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HISTORICAL MEMOIRS 

OP 

ADMIRAL 
CHARLES STIRLING: 

EXTRACTED FROM 

The Fourteenth Part of 
THE NAVAL BIOGRAPHY 

OF 

GREAT BRITAIN, 

By J. RALFE. 

WITH 

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 

BY 

VICE-ADMIRAL STIRLING. _ 



LONDON: 

PRINTED BY L. HARRISON, 373, STRAND. 

1826. 



PREFACE. 



Mr. RALFE having some time since applied to 
me, by letter, for any documents in my posses- 
sion which might assist him in compiling a Memoir 
of my professional life, my son supplied him with 
several written and printed statements relative 
to the services in which I have been engaged. 
These statements were drawn up on different oc- 
casions, without any view to a publication of this 
nature. From them Mr. Ralfe has compiled the 
Historical Memoirs given to the public in the 
14th Number of his " Naval Biography*" mak- 
ing occasional additions from other sources to 
which he has had access. 

At an earlier period of my life I always shrunk 
from the idea of being thus brought before the 
public, and refused my sanction to several appli- 
cations of a similar nature to Mr. Ralfe's. But 
my present situation is a peculiar one ; and as I 
have been mentioned, or alluded to, in other piib- 

* Published by Whitmore and Fenn, 6, Charing-Cross. 

a 2 



IV 

lications relating to the navy, I thought it better 
to give what degree of authenticity I could to a 
publication which, in all probability, would have 
taken place whether I had sanctioned it or not, 
and which, if inaccurately drawn up, might aug- 
ment the misrepresentations of which I have al- 
ready so much reason to complain. I made no 
stipulation as to the tone in which the work should 
be written, but left Mr. Ralfe to the exercise of 
his own judgment, and to make such comments 
as he thought the facts warranted. I never de- 
sired the support of any man who was not con- 
vinced of the purity of my conduct. I ask for a 
favourable consideration of those errors to which 
human nature is subject; but I require no further 
favour or indulgence. 

With the result of Mr. Ralfe's labours I have 
every reason to be satisfied, and indeed, I may 
say, flattered. He has been a little more pro- 
fuse in his compliments than I expected, or am 
conscious of deserving ; but to the truth of all 
the facts he has stated, I bear my most unquali- 
fied testimony. At the same time, I could wish 
he had known my desire that he should avoid 
all criticisms on my court-martial, and the con- 
duct which the Admiralty have thought proper 
to pursue towards me. I am anxious that my 



Gase should be thoroughly understood, but I wish 
to throw no blame upon those who have miscon- 
ceived my character. We are all liable to pre- 
judice in estimating the conduct of others, and I 
am willing to allow, that there have been many 
peculiarities in the various situations in which I 
have been placed, which have laid my motives 
open to misconstruction. . 

What these peculiarities were, I take advan- 
tage of Mr. Ralfe's publication to enlarge upon. 
I have, therefore, had the " Memoirs" of my life 
reprinted, with such additions as I think import- 
ant; and I offer the whole to the consideration 
of those who desire to understand the merits of 
my Case, . 

In a profession so complicated in all its details 
as the naval, an officer must have great interest, 
or great success, to derive full benefit from those 
talents which are not above mediocrity. It has 
not been my lot to have either of these useful 
aids ; and, therefore, I should not have been sur- 
prised, if on many occasions I had incurred cen- 
sure where I have obtained credit: but common 
honesty is within every man's reach, and I con- 
fess I never expected that my integrity or vera- 
city would have been called in question. The 
state of my finances, when I began to walk the 
a 3 



VI 

quarter-deck, made it necessary for me to be ex- 
tremely cautious in my expenditure; but this 
caution never extended to the desire of amassing 
wealth : had it done so, I might have easily gra- 
tified it by resorting to those modes which, amongst 
some of my brother officers, were looked upon 
as perfectly fair and legitimate. Perhaps these 
economical habits might have had some effects 
on my conduct with regard to the public expen- 
diture, even unknown to me, and have been the 
cause of those accusations which have been made 
against me of cramping the operations of the 
service by a starving economy. I was, however, 
so strongly impressed with the idea of the diffi- 
culty that the government had in raising sufficient 
money to meet the increasing expenses of the 
war, that I braved the unpopularity to which I 
was exposed, sooner than forego a system which 
possessed such strong recommendations, deter- 
mining that no individual should enrich himself 
at the public cost when I had the power to pre- 
vent it. 

I had heard it stated in the House of Com- 
mons that the naval expenditure might be reduced 
two-thirds; and believing, as I did, that there 
was good foundation for the assertion, I persisted 
in my very unpleasant and thankless task. In 



vn 

explaining some circumstances relative to this 
subject, and in alluding to instances in which I 
may fairly challenge the merit of disinterested- 
ness^ I disclaim all accusation of being influenced 
by vanity. I mention facts which, though not 
within the compass of Mr. Ralfe's information, 
are open to proof, and if incorrectly stated, liable 
to contradiction. But, in speaking of economy, 
it must be remembered, that I never interfered 
with the fair gains of any man, and that I always 
made allowances for errors arising from long 
customs or incidental oversights. By gentle means 
I corrected many abuses, and stopped many evil 
practices without the necessity of resorting to 
punishment. Little could I then suppose that I 
should be charged with having yielded to cor- 
rupt customs, and committed errors which I had 
been, through my whole professional life, labour- 
ing to reform. 

I know allusions are often sneeringly made to 
the great fondness of naval men for publishing 
statements and explanations ; and, on many oc- 
casions, these sneers are not altogether ill-founded. 
But in my situation I have no choice; I must 
either force my Case on the attention of people, 
or I must continue in that mortifying and penal 
retirement to which I have been condemned. It 



vm 

adds not a little to the feelings that oppress me> 
when I find, as is often the case, that whilst al- 
most every body is ignorant of the particulars of 
the charges against me, some attribute them to 
offences of a far different nature ; and even some 
of those who are most inclined to take my part, 
think they offer an unswerable defence for my cha- 
racter, by saying, I yielded to a bad custom, which 
others had been allowed to practise with impu- 
nity. I wish every body to know that the charge 
for which I was tried, and which the court-mar- 
tial declared. " in part proved? was, for taking 
money for freight improperly — that the amount 
of my proportion of the money so taken was six* 
teen pounds— that there was no other charge 
produced against me, whatever was insinuated; 
and I wish every body to hear my solemn denial, 
that I was in any way party or privy to the trans- 
action; or either directly or indirectly yielded 
to the custom out of which it originated, how- 
ever extensively practised such customs might 
have been at Jamaica, both before and since the 
time of my command. It is the disinclination I 
met with in people to go into the subject and 
listen to my justification, that thus forces me to 
appear in a character for which neither my edu- 
cation, nor subsequent habits of life, may be 



IX 

thought to have particularly well qualified me — 
I mean, that of an author, 

I have been no less mortified by listening to 
the comfort which others have imagined they 
were bestowing upon me, by saying that the 
offence with which I was charged involves no 
moral turpitude; that my private character re- 
mains untouched ; and recommending me to sit 
down in quiet submission to the misfortunes in 
which a combination of untoward circumstances, 
and not guilt, had implicated me. But I cannot 
agree with such reasoning. T h ~ ^ITence, what- 
ever opinion there might be about its moral tur- 
pitude, was contrary to the rules of the service m % 
and if I ever had sanctioned it, I am willing to 
allow I deserve my fate. Neither can I agree 
that my private character remains untouched. 
Be it understood, that I have repeatedly and so* 
lemnly asserted my innocence, and that I have 
been disbelieved. It must, then, be admitted 
that I am not too sensitive, when I shew myself 
thus anxious to embrace every opportunity that 
accident throws in ray way for defence and ex- 
planation. 

In a statement which I forwarded to the Ad- 
miralty five years ago, and which I have since 
had printed for private distribution, I mentioned 



that I could shew the amount of all the money I 
had made in the navy ; the whole of which arose 
entirely from pay and prizes, and on account of 
freight according to the established custom of the 
service. I now repeat, that if any gentleman into 
whose hands these pages may fall, will do-me the 
favour of so far interesting himself about me as 
to be desirous of proof, I will produce satisfac- 
tory testimony of all I have received, either in 
my official or private capacity, from my youth up 
until now. It is impossible to give a more com- 
plete answer to those who charge me with having 
amassed wealth by any means contrary to the 
rules of the service and the practices of a gen- 
tleman. 

I have always considered mercy as a prominent 
feature of the present administration, I have 
seen it dispensed to the high and the low, under 
all circumstances of guilt and aggravation. In 
my Case, I hear, there are great objections to 
disturbing the sentence of the court-martial ; but 
feeling, as I do, conscious of innocence, I still 
look forward to the day when I shall obtain that 
favourable consideration which I have hitherto 
entreated in vain. The Admiralty had not a 
more zealous officer under their controul than 
myself, nor one less actuated by selfish motives, or 



XI 

one who was more alive to the honour and dignity 
of the naval service, I must, therefore, still hope 
that I shall not continue for ever a victim to the 
prejudice that has obscured my character, blight- 
ed my prospects, and embittered my life ; and, 
in the hope of contributing to dissipate it, I take 
advantage of Mr. Ralfe's publication to call at- 
tention to my Case. 

CHARLES STIRLING. 



Woburn-Farm, Chektsey, Sept. 18Q6. 



HISTORICAL MEMOIRS 

OP 

ADMIRAL CHARLES STIRLING. 



OCOTLAND has given birth to many individuals 
distinguished for their piety, their learning, their cou- 
rage, and their general abilities ; and she claims the fa- 
mily of Stirling as peculiarly her own. Admiral Stirling 
is the son of Captain Walter Stirling, R. N. who was 
knighted for bringing home Sir George Rodney's dis- 
patches relative to the capture of St. Eustatia. He 
was born April 28, 1760, arid at an early age accom- 
panied his father on several cruises. He afterwards 
sailed with Sir Edward Hughes to the East Indies, 
and on his return from thence he was made a lieute- 
nant, June 12, 1778, being at the time only eighteen 
years of age. He then proceeded to North America, 
and in May 1780 was promoted to the rank of com- 
mander by Vice-Admiral Arbuthnot, after the capture 
of Charlestown. Having been appointed to the Avenger 
sloop of war, which had been purchased into the ser- 
vice, but which proved a most wretched sailer, he was 
stationed between Gardner's Bay and City Island, in 

B 



2 

Long Island Sound, to protect the craft conveying 
fuel to New- York ; a service which became important 
on the approach of winter, as that article had become 
exceedingly scarce. He had also under his orders four 
galleys rigged as schooners, and having in the month 
of October collected twenty-five sail of vessels in 
Gardner's Bay, laden for the garrison at New- York, 
he received information that the enemy had assembled 
a ship of 20 guns, five brigs, and a large schooner, in 
Newhaven, for the purpose of attacking him, Not- 
withstanding their superiority, however, he proceeded 
in his preparations, and put to sea the following morn- 
ing; and shortly after discovered the enemy in full 
force, lying in his route, with an apparent determina- 
tion to cut off his communication with City Island, 
Having directed the convoy to stand close in shore, 
Captain Stirling stood out in a line of battle to attack 
the enemy, who had likewise formed, and shortly after 
an action commenced ; but as the enemy kept under 
sail, and the bad sailing of the Avenger prevented her 
keeping within gun-shot, it soon terminated, when 
Captain Stirling edged away towards his convoy, and 
effected his passage to New- York without loss, although 
the enemy twice attempted to cut off some of the con- 
voy. The conduct and success of Captain Stirling on 
this occasion were much spoken of at the time, and he 
was highly complimented by his superior officers for 
the skill and ability he had displayed : it was, in fact, 
considered as a fine specimen of promising talents and 



3 

genius ; and had it been on a larger scale, or had the 
enemy been bold enough to have come to a close ac- 
tion, no doubt it would have terminated in a manner 
highly honourable to the professional character of 
Captain Stirling, who was at the time only twenty years 
of age. 

In the month of December Captain Stirling landed 
on the main, with the greater part of his crew, to assist 
a party of provincial soldiers in destroying some ma- 
gazines formed for the enemy's army ; but, owing to 
several untoward circumstances, the plan failed, and, 
to effect their retreat, the party w r ere obliged to storm 
a redoubt which had been thrown up ; a sharp skirmish 
also took place with some formidable parties of the 
enemy, in which three sailors and several soldiers were 
killed. Having removed to the Vulture, he w r as or- 
dered, in January 1781, to proceed up the Rariton, to 
assist a detachment of the army in Staten Island, where 
he experienced a great deal of hard service in gun- 
boats ; being obliged to keep strict watch, night and 
day, to prevent surprise, frequently engaged in skir- 
mishes with parties of the enemy, and the general de- 
pending upon him to land and protect the spies neces- 
sarily employed, as well as to obtain him intelligence 
of the enemy's movements, and to open communica- 
tions with the friends of the British government in the 
interior : all objects of great importance ; but the du- 
ties, fatiguing and harassing as they were, were ren- 
dered doubly so by the inclement season of the year. 
B 2 



In the ensuing spring Captain Stirling was removed 
to the Savage sloop of 1 6 guns ; and as the French and 
American armies had encamped on the White Plains, it 
was considered necessary by Sir Henry Clinton to de- 
tach a force up the Hudson's river, to harass and endea- 
vour to cut off their supplies : so urgent indeed was 
this object considered, that though Captain Stirling re- 
presented the impossibility of lying in any part, above 
the neutral ground, out of the reach of the enemy's 
shot, he was directed by Commodore Affleck to pro- 
ceed at all events, taking with him the Savage and 
Monk sloops, a galley, and two gun-vessels. He ac- 
cordingly got under sail, and reached the Tappan Sea 
the following evening, when he anchored off Tarry- 
town, without molestation, either from a strong for- 
tress on the starboard side, or a battery on the other. 
At that moment a body of troops was encamped on a 
hill at a short distance from the town, and seeing that 
the object of the British squadron was to destroy the 
vessels moored near the town, they left their camp and 
went to their assistance. This movement was antici- 
pated by Captain Stirling, and he accordingly made 
preparations to destroy the camp before he made any 
attempt on the vessels. For this purpose the boats left 
the Savage about eleven o'clock, and before three the 
whole of the tents were in a complete blaze ; the party 
then returned to the Savage, and the American troops 
having in the mean time hastened up to their camp, 
their vessels immediately became the objects of attack, 



5 

and such was the alacrity displayed, that the whale 
were soon enveloped in flames and completely de- 
stroyed. The country round for many miles now be- 
came alarmed, and every preparation was made to cut 
off the retreat of the assailants : one gun was first 
brought to bear on the little squadron, and as the fire 
could not be returned with effect, Captain Stirling 
shifted his anchorage. Here fresh annoyances were 
projected, and guns were brought to bear on the squa- 
dron ; and all hands were obliged to be kept at their 
quarters for two days and nights, when they took 
shelter under a high mountain on the north side of 
Hudson's river, about four miles distant from Stony 
Point. Preparations were now made by the enemy for 
carrying the British squadron by boarding ; but a 
north-west wind having sprung up, Captain Stirling 
again made sail down the river, having the two gun- 
boats in tow, the Monk sloop astern, and the galley on 
his starboard side. The shore was now covered with 
soldiers from the combined armies, and other spectators, 
all anxious to witness the surrender of the little squa- 
dron, which they thought was inevitable, as whenever a 
gun could be brought to bear from the heights it was im- 
mediately discharged. The grand attack, however, was 
to be made from the fortress and battery which they 
had passed in going up without molestation. They 
were now manned with the French artillery, and Gene- 
rals Washington and Rochambeau were present. As 
soon as the squadron got within long range, a tremen- 
B 3 



6 

dous firing began, both from the fort and the battery 
on the opposite shore. Fortunately, there was at the 
moment a good breeze and a strong tide, and the 
whole of the vessels passed this formidable fire, not 
without loss, but it may almost be considered as a 
miracle that none of them was sunk. Many of the 
inen were killed and wounded, and the vessels were 
considerably damaged in their hulls, masts, and rigging ; 
the Savage having had several men killed and 16 
wounded, and was obliged to shift two lower masts. 
Such was the nature of the service performed by Cap- 
tain Stirling on this occasion, and such were the dan- 
gers and obstacles which he surmounted ; and when it 
is added, that during the five days that he was absent 
he never allowed himself any rest, and that he was 
never absent from the deck more than five minutes at 
a time, the fatiguing duties of his situation, and the ar- 
duous nature of the service in which he was employed, 
may be easily imagined. Such conduct could not fail 
of meeting with the approbation of all those who knew 
how to appreciate talents and perseverance ; and R ear- 
Admiral Graves, who had succeeded to the chief com- 
mand, was pleased to express his particular approba- 
tion of the proceedings of Captain Stirling ; and as a 
mark of his satisfaction, having no immediate opportu- 
nity of giving him promotion, he ordered him on a 
cruise, at a time when every other ship under his com- 
mand was employed in watching the enemy. 

Having sailed on this new undertaking, Captain 



Stirling first touched at Charlestown with dispatches, 
and having been informed that several privateers were 
looking out for some valuable ships daily expected to 
arrive from England, he determined to wait off the bar 
for their protection, although it militated much against 
his interest, as the neighbourhood of the Bermudas, 
whither he was ordered to proceed, was considered 
the most advantageous cruise on the American sta- 
tion, and particularly at that season of the year. 
These considerations were, however, of minor import- 
ance, and he determined to protect, at all hazards, the 
commerce of his country. On the 4th September 
seven sail of shipping had collected in the offing, but 
could not cross the bar, and on the following morning 
the American ship of war Congress hove in sight. She 
was soon made out to be far superior in point of force 
to the Savage, and equal in every respect to an English 
32-gun frigate. Success against such a superiority 
was hopeless, and though the Savage might at first 
have escaped, Captain Stirling was aware that by so 
doing he would more than risk the merchant-vessels, 
which were valued at 400,000/. sterling ; he therefore 
determined to risk the king's ship in their protection. 
He encountered the enemy, and maintained a most 
spirited and determined action, which reflected the 
highest honour on his courage and intrepidity, not 
surrendering his ship till her mizen-mast was shot 
away, her main-mast tottering, several of her guns 
rendered useless, with 8 men killed, himself, a lieu- 



8 

tenant, 3 midshipmen, and 12 of the crew wound- 
ed. The enemy likewise suffered severely, having 
had 1 1 men killed and 30 wounded, and was so cut up 
in her masts and rigging $s^ to be obliged to return 
to port, leaving the traders to pursue their course un- 
molested. Captain Stirling again received the thanks 
of his commander-in-chief for the skill and bravery he 
had evinced on this occasion ; and even the enemy 
spoke of his defence in terms of the highest admira- 
tion. He did not remain long in captivity, and on his 
rejoining the flag-ship, the admiral would have proved 
to him the high estimation in which he held his talents 
and conduct by giving him post-rank, had not he him- 
self been unfortunate, and the affairs of Britain on that 
station begun to wear a dismal aspect. He, however, 
wrote a letter to the Lords of the Admiralty, stating 
his merits : but on his arrival in England circumstances 
were not more favourable ; Lord Sandwich was on the 
point of retiring from the Admiralty, and he expressed 
his regret that the state of public affairs put it out of 
his power to grant him that promotion which he de- 
served. The Carolina merchants, however, expressed 
in very strong terms their thanks for his conduct, and 
for the means he had taken to preserve their property. 
Shortly after the appointment of Lord Keppel to be 
First Lord of the Admiralty, Captain Stirling was ap- 
pointed to the Termagant of 18 guns, and in May 
1782, he was ordered off the Texel with dispatches for 
Lord Howe. At this time the influenza raged vio* 



9 

lenity among the shipping in the Downs, and though 
the case was urgent, and there were eleven pendants 
flying, the admiral could only send forty men to weigh 
one of his anchors and trip his top-sails ; the other 
cable was slipped, and Captain Stirling proceeded to 
sea with only twenty men fit for duty, and without a 
single officer above a quarter-master. His zeal for the 
service, however, would not allow him to make any 
complaints, or to be starting difficulties, when his duty 
required his utmost exertions. On the third day after 
his sailing, he fell in with a large Dutch frigate, which 
bore down apparently with a determination to bring 
him to action. To fight was out of the question, and 
to escape was equally impossible, as the Texel was 
under the lee of the Termagant, and an attempt to 
make sail was at once to expose her weakness. Cap* 
tain Stirling determined to put on the best appearance, 
and to make at least a show of resistance. But the 
enemy declined an encounter, perhaps thinkhig she 
was a look-out ship from the British fleet, and after 
passing out of gun-shot, ran into an anchorage. In 
the night Captain Stirling effected a junction with Lord 
Howe, and his lordship was so well pleased, under all 
the circumstances of his joining him, that he subse- 
quently requested that the Admiralty would confer 
upon him the rank of post-captain, which was accord- 
ingly complied with by Lord Keppel, his commission 
bearing date January 15, 1783 ; and it may be men- 
tioned as a curious circumstance, that Lord Keppel 



10 

also promoted Captain Stirling's father to post-rank, 
after the reduction of Goree in January 1759* 

After the termination of the war, Captain Stirling 
was appointed to the Unicorn of 20 guns, and was sta- 
tioned for some time in the West Indies, which we be- 
lieve was the only appointment he had during the con- 
tinuance of peace. Shortly ? fter the commencement 
of hostilities in 1793, he was appointed to the Venus 
frigate, employed in cruising in the Channel ; after 
which he removed to the Jason, and formed part of 
the squadron of frigates sent to Quiberon, under the 
orders of Sir John Warren and Sir Edward Pellew. 
Whilst thus employed, he was honoured with the com- 
pany of the present King of France (then Count d'Ar- 
tois), in his expedition to the Isle de Dieu, and on the 
troops being withdrawn, landed his royal highness at 
Edinburgh. In 1797, he was employed in attacking 
some batteries near the Sable d'Olonne and other parts 
of the coast. In April 1798, he was ordered to recon- 
noitre the harbour of Brest, having the Naiad under 
his orders, and two line-of-battle ships in the offing 
ready to assist in case of necessity. Although the 
wind blew right in, Captain Stirling approached so near 
as to be able not only to see what vessels were at an- 
chor in Brest- water, but to observe the state in which 
they were ; and which particulars were reported to 
Lord Bridport. The Jason having made sail to work 
out, several French ships weighed and gave chase, and 
no doubt would have brought her to action, had not 



11 

the appearance of the ships in the offing kept them in 
check. Steering to the southward, Captain Stirling 
observed a small convoy coming through the Passage 
du Raz, under the protection of a remarkably fine gun- 
brig, the latter of which he captured in face of the 
enemy's ship of war, then only four miles distant. On 
rejoining the admiral, a French ship of the line was 
observed off the Penmarks ; the Mars, Jason, and one 
or two other ships were ordered in chase. The Mars 
kept the lead all day ; about ten p. m. the Jason made 
the Bee du Raz, and soon after she saw a ship at an- 
chor in the passage. It was at the moment a matter 
of doubt whether the ship seen was the Mars or the 
enemy, but as Captain Stirling thought it his duty to 
ascertain it, he edged away for the entrance, and as he 
approached the shore, a ship was seen stretching out 
of Hodierne Bay, pushing for the ship at anchor, and as 
they approached, a furious cannonade commenced, which 
lasted exactly twenty-four minutes. Owing to little 
wind and a strong ebb tide, the Jason made but little 
progress, but arrived up with the combatants before 
the firing ceased, and received several shots from the 
enemy's stern. On arriving closer up a firing of mus- 
ketry was heard, and seeing that both ships were on 
board of each other, Captain Stirling determined on 
boarding the enemy ; but on passing ahead of the Mars, 
he was hailed that the enemy had surrendered : but 
at the same time his assistance was most earnestly 
desired, both ships being on fire ; and seeing the 



12 

flames issue from the lower-deck ports, officers and 
men with buckets were immediately put on board, and 
by great exertions the fire was extinguished. The 
Passage dti Raz is at all times most difficult of navi-» 
gation, but at night particularly dangerous ; and Cap- 
tain Stirling being well acquainted with its difficulties, 
ventured to send his opinion to Captain Hood, when 
he learned with regret that that gallant officer had been 
mortally wounded on the coming up of the Jason. On 
the change of the tide, Captain Stirling gave directions 
for the cable of the Hercule to be cut, as the Mars 
hung by her, when both ships dropped out clear, and 
about one o'clock they were joined by the Nymph. Not- 
withstanding the presence of the Jason at the capture 
of the Hercule, the conduct of Captain Stirling was 
not even noticed by Lord Bridport*, probably on ac- 

* It was said by an officer of rank in the confidence of 
the commander-in-chief, that, as the Jason did not fire into 
the enemy, she was not entitled to be mentioned as having 
assisted at the capture. The fact is, that the Mars was so 
interposed between the Jason and the Hercule, that I could 
not have fired without endangering the former $ and when 
passing ahead of her for the purpose of boarding the enemy, 
we were so near the latter, that our larboard-mizen«-vang 
hooked her jib-boom. Captain PHeritier declared, after 
the action, that he had left off firing his great guns for the 
purpose of collecting his men to board the Mars; but on our 
coming up he abandoned the idea. What might have been 
the consequence of his carrying that design into effect, or how 
far our coming up might have influenced his surrender, must 
now, of course, be left to conjecture. All I contend for is, 



13 

count of Captain Hood being his relation : he was, 
however, allowed to share head-money, a proof of the 
active part he had taken on the occasion ; though he 
put in no claim, and though the same was refused to 
the Nymph and Ramillies, who had put in a claim, 
which was successfully resisted by the officers and crew 
of the Mars. 

In the month of June Captain Stirling was stationed 
off Hodierne Bay, with the Pique and Mermaid under 
his orders ; and on the 29th, in the morning, chased a 
French frigate from the Penmarks to the Point de la 
Tranche, in the Pertius Breton, where she ran on shore. 
About eleven p. m. she was brought to close action by 
the Pique, but the latter having lost her main-top-mast, 
dropped astern : at this moment the Jason came up, 
but running along side the enemy, took the ground. 
Captain Stirling now hailed the Pique to haul off, or to 
anchor ; but Captain Milne, not hearing this direction, 

that although the Jason did not fire, she was, from the ahove 
circumstances, entitled to he mentioned in the account of 
the battle. At any rate, I afterwards saved both ships from 
drifting on a rock that was close to them, by ordering the 
cable, by which they both hung, to be cut, and they were 
thus enabled to cast clear: a fresh breeze, with the tide 
setting on the rock, would have been fatal. 

I may further observe, that the Passage du Raz was at 
that time considered so dangerous, that Sir J. Warren, not. 
long before, would not enter it even by day, although in 
chase, but hauled off from a squadron of frigates which he 
had engaged at the entrance. 

C 



14 

stood on and grounded also. In this situation the ac- 
tion continued for three hours, when the enemy sur- 
rendered. In the morning the prospect appeared the 
most dismal and discouraging ; but little hope seemed 
to present itself of getting either of the ships afloat ; 
the enemy, who had assembled in great numbers on the 
shore, could walk to the prize at low water, and it was 
clear might destroy the whole with common exertions. 
On the Jason first taking the ground, Captain Stirling 
sent orders to the Mermaid to anchor, and she was 
afterwards brought into a situation to heave the Jason 
off at high water ; but as the Pique could not be 
trusted to the same hawse, she unfortunately fell over 
and bilged. About nine a. m. the Mermaid was or- 
dered to look out in the offing for a squadron under 
Captain Stopford (which the Jason had passed at an- 
chor off the Isle de Dieu), and which she fortunately 
brought to their assistance. The Jason was then hove 
into deep water ; the prize (La Seine of 42 guns) was 
hove off, and Captain Milne and crew placed on board 
of her ; all of which took place in sight of a superior 
force at Rochelle, without molestation, though they, at 
one time, threatened to interrupt their proceedings. In 
this contest the Pique had one man killed, one wounded, 
and six drowned; and the Jason seven killed and 12 
wounded : and what greatly added to the difficulties 
experienced on this occasion was, a violent contusion 
which Captain Stirling received on the breast during 
the action, which obliged him to go below, and remain 



15 

for the rest of the time. We doubt whether any one 
unconnected with the service, or unused to the respon- 
sibility of command, is able duly to estimate the situ- 
ation of Captain Stirling. Pursuing his enemy with all 
the ardour and enthusiasm of one anxious and desirous 
of naval fame ; seeing the laurel within his reach, 
which he was prevented from grasping only by one of 
those freaks of Fortune which often baffle the greatest 
minds, and rinding himself wounded and unable to 
make those exertions which w r ere natural to him, and at 
a time when they were more particularly called for ; all 
these circumstances could not fail of affecting the strong- 
est mind, and they were severely felt by Captain Stir- 
ling. A short time, however, served to reinstate him 
in his usual health and vigour, and he was ordered by 
Lord Bridport to cruise as close off Brest as possible. 
On the 13th October, he fell in with seven chasse-ma- 
rees in Douvernenez Bay, and just as he had captured 
them, the Jason, about two o'clock p. m. struck on la 
Basse Vielle. At this time the wind was S.E. by S. 
blowing so fresh as to enable her just to carry her 
royals, and she was going about ten knots. Providen- 
tially the water was uncommonly smooth, and after 
the rock was in the ship's bows, she did not appear to 
have the least motion. The tide was rising, and for a 
considerable time there were doubts whether she would 
not slide off and go down stern foremost ; and which 
must have been the case had the tide been falling, as 
she hung forward, and had thirteen fathoms aft. See- 
C2 



16 

ing there was no possibility of saving the ship, the 
boats were got out as fast as possible, and a large raft, 
sufficient to carry the whole of the crew, was con- 
structed with the spare top-masts and spars ; but just 
as the men were quitting the ship she floated, and they 
were enabled to keep her up till she ran two miles and 
reached a place that left her gunwale above water, by 
which means the whole of the crew were saved. 

Having returned from his captivity, Captain Stirling 
was appointed in 1 799, by Lord Spencer, to command 
the Pompee, in which he served in the Channel fleet, 
the Mediterranean, the West Indies, and had a win- 
ter's fag off the Black Rocks. In June 1801, he was 
detached under the orders of Sir James Saumarez to 
cruise off Cadiz ; he subsequently proceeded with him 
to Algeziras Bay, and on the 6th July highly distin- 
guished himself by his brave, cool, and intrepid con- 
duct. It was at first intended that the Pompee should 
lead, but Captain Hood having some knowledge of the 
bay, the post was assigned to the Venerable. In stand- 
ing in, however, she kept too far over towards the 
rock, was becalmed, and thrown out ; but Captain 
Stirling, by hugging the shore on board, kept the breeze 
till he reached the Formidable, the flag- ship of Ad- 
miral Linois, having ranged under all the batteries, and 
passed two French ships of the line and a frigate, all 
of which opened their fire on the Pompee and Auda- 
cious. Having reached this situation, which to a man 
of ambition must be the most enviable, he let go an 



17 

anchor ahead and astern, having a hawser to each to 
keep his broadside to the enemy's bow, then within 
pistol-shot, when a most destructive cannonade com- 
menced, which presaged the most happy result ; but 
in a short time the Pompee was perceived to swing, 
and as her guns became useless, the French ship hauled 
in shore from her. In the Memoir of Sir James Sau- 
marez we have stated, that this unfortunate circum- 
stance was occasioned by the shear of the Pompee 
having broken by a flaw of w T ind ; but we have since 
heard it attributed to the following cause : In the morn- 
ing the French admiral was moored with one anchor in 
seven fathoms and another in four, the latter of which 
had been carried out in a launch ; but perceiving the 
British squadron standing towards him, he slipped his 
outer cable, and having swung to his inner anchor, 
tailed on the mud. The Pompee brought up with this 
inner anchor abreast of her gangway, but having, on 
the tide falling, caught forwards, she swung with her 
head towards the enemy, in spite of the utmost efforts 
to prevent it. In this unfortunate situation she re- 
mained above an hour, without having an opportunity 
of firing a shot with effect, but exposed to a raking 
fire of the enemy ; and notwithstanding the danger to 
which he was exposed, and that every minute increased 
his perilous situation, Captain Stirling refused to quit 
his position without orders. In this extremity one of 
the admiral's lieutenants came on board the Pompee, 
and seeing the impossibility of bringing her broadside 
C3 



18 

to bear either on the enemy's ships or batteries, asked 
Captain Stirling if he did not think himself authorized 
to make a retreat ? Captain Stirling said, no ; but 
that he might report the state of the Pompee to the 
admiral, and at the same time tell him, that he was de- 
termined not to quit his position without orders. The 
officers of the Pompee now became convinced that the 
ship could not long hold out against such a tremen- 
dous fire as was opposed to her, but still Captain Stir- 
ling persevered in his determination not to move with- 
out orders, notwithstanding the destruction of the ship 
seemed inevitable ; every moment increased the con- 
viction that this would take place, and catching his son 
(a youngster) up in his arms, was about sending him 
away in a boat, when his signal was made to cut, and 
the ship was towed out, without a rope, mast, spar, or 
sail that was serviceable, and with 42 men killed or 
wounded. On anchoring at the Mole, Captain Stir- 
ling waited on Sir James Saumarez, by whom he was 
received with the most marked attention and flattering 
approbation*. He was also complimented by the offi- 

* Notwithstanding this flattering reception, I was after- 
wards much mortified to find that the admiral omitted to 
make that mention of me in his letter to the Admiralty which 
he had given me reason to expect. He bestowed all the 
praise of leading in to the attack on Captain Hood: but 
without meaning at all to undervalue the merits of that 
officer, it was evident to the whole squadron, as well as the 
garrison at Gibraltar, that he was completely thrown out 
bv a failure of wind on his opening the bay. I therefore took 



19 

cers of the squadron, and by the governor and officers 
at Gibraltar, who, with the whole garrison, were spec- 
tators of the battle. Sir James Saumarez having de- 
termined to repair the least disabled ships first, Captain 
Stirling was directed to send every artificer and give 
every possible assistance to them, by which means it 
became impossible to get the Pompee in a condition to 
follow the enemy on the 12th ; in fact not the smallest 
attempt was made for that purpose : but in Jive days 
from that date, though there were but few artificers in 
the yard, the hull was repaired, the bowsprit and the 
three lower masts were shifted, and she was in a com- 

the liberty to complain of this to the admiral, observing, 
that he had complimented Captain Hood at my expense. 
But Captain Hood, as I observed to my first lieutenant, was 
an officer highly connected in the service, and being gene- 
rally a successful man, might be considered as reposing on 
velvet: but if I had not gained my anchorage, I might have 
been ruined ; and the situation of the Venerable made it 
necessary for me to incur considerable risk, by hugging the 
shore under the batteries a great deal nearer than other- 
wise I should have done. 

I was afterwards informed by an officer belonging to the 
Formidable (the enemy's flag-ship), whom I subsequently 
captured off Cadiz, that Admiral Linois ordered his colours 
to be struck at the moment the Pompee was observed to take 
the ground; and it was only the hot fire, which deterred his 
men from going on the poop, that prevented its being done. 
At this time, I must observe, the Audacious was the only 
ship near me; the rest of the squadron were some distance 
astern. 



20 

plete state of repair ; a circumstance which could not 
fail of being highly honourable to Captain Stirling, his 
officers and crew. 

After the termination of hostilities by the peace of 
Amiens, Captain Stirling accepted the office of com- 
missioner of tho navy at Jamaica*; but in 1805 he 

* As the measures which I thought it my duty to adopt 
with regard to the expenditure in the Dock- Yard, laid the 
foundation of that unpopularity from which I afterwards 
suffered so much, I shall take this opportunity of mentioning 
various instances in which those measures incurred the op- 
position or displeasure of the other authorities of the island. 
On my arrival I found many abuses existing: the govern- 
ment bills bore a very small premium, whilst private bills 
were 15 per cent, above par. I maintained that this ought 
not to be; and hereby gave great offence to the other con- 
stituted authorities, On one occasion there was such a 
strong combination against me, that no tenders of any de- 
scription were made to me for bills. The admiral recom- 
mended my giving way, observing it was well known that 
the yard never got the market price, and that the public 
service would suffer by my holding out. I did not tell him 
exactly what my opinion on the occasion was ; but I told 
him, that sooner than sanction the government bills being 
below the market price, I would advance 10,000Z. out of my 
own pocket to meet contingencies, and trust to the Admi- 
ralty to indemnify me. As things turned out, however, 
there was no occasion for this advance; but I never after- 
wards found any difficulty in raising money to advantage. 

The expense of stores in the squadron was enormous, not- 
withstanding the form of inserting theexpenses was regular. 
A general expression of " Converted to yarns," or " Lost t " 



21 

solicited and obtained his rank as a rear-admiral ; and 
in the month of June hoisted his flag on board the 
Glory, belonging to the Channel fleet. Soon after 

caused an expense of several thousands of pounds in one 
quarter. The captains were very angry with nie for inter- 
fering, and the admiral took their part ; but as there was 
great necessity for a general change, although I could not 
effect it, I made insertions in the Expense-Books when I saw 
any deviations from the instructions of the Navy-Board, so 
that any reference might be made to them in future, should 
it be thought necessary. However, on my attending at the 
Navy-Board on my return to England, when I inquired for 
the Expense-Books in which I had made notes, not one of 
them was produced. 

On one occasion some repairs were wanted in the yard, 
and the estimate sent in for them was about 25001. But 
having caused timber to be purchased by the officers of the 
yard from vessels going to market, I procured it for half the 
price it sold for at Kingston, and the repairs were completed 
for a few hundreds. It had long been the custom for a mer- 
chant to supply the yard with various articles to the amount 
of 601. monthly. This supply I stopped^ and we did as well 
without it as if the expense had been continued. In the 
hurricane of 1804, two of the line-of-battle ships were dis- 
masted - y and it being expected that I should be obliged to 
make larger purchases and employ additional artificers, the 
price of every thing connected with the navy rose in the 
town. I set to work, however, with the common resources 
of the yard, and the ships were ready for service within the 
time which the admiral had given me, although the master 
shipwright and the principal officer of the mast-making de- 
partment fell sick, and I was deprived of the benefit of their 
services j but when it was seen that I could get on without 



22 

joining Lord Gardner off' Ushant, he was ordered to 
take the command of five sail of the line off Roche- 
fort; and early in July, Admiral Cornwallis having 
assumed the command, Admiral Stirling was directed 
to put himself and his squadron under the orders of 
Sir Robert Calder, who was cruising to intercept the 
combined fleet expected from the West Indies, and 
which he fell in with on the 22d July. In the Memoir 
of Sir Robert Calder* we have inserted the particulars 
of his subsequent proceedings, and have here only to 
observe, that the conduct of Admiral Stirling was such 
as to give him the highest satisfaction, and which he 
expressed by letter in the following terms : " Permit 
me to return you my most heartfelt thanks for your 
unremitting attentions, and for the very gallant support 
you rendered me during the whole of the actionf ." 

assistance, things came round, and the prices fell to their 
usual scale. 

I may here also observe, that, in a preceding command, 
the Queen of 90 guns had been hove down, and cost the go- 
vernment nearly 20,000Z.; but the Duquesne of two decks 
and greater tonnage was hove down under my inspection, 
and cost about one-tenth part of the sum. More work was 
certainly required in the former ship, but not enough to ac- 
count for the enormous difference in the expenditure. 

* Naval Chronology, vol. I. 

f Here again I have great reason to complain. I was al- 
together omitted in the public dispatch : Sir Robert Calder, 
indeed, apologized for the omission, which he assured me 
proceeded entirely from the illness of his secretary, and en- 



23 

In 1806, Sir Home Popham left his station at the 
Cape of Good Hope without orders, taking with him 
nearly the whole of his force, thereby leaving the set- 
tlement in an exposed and defenceless situation, to 
attack the enemy's possessions in South America ; al- 
though he had been ordered to send such force as could 
be spared on to India, and all transports, not wanted 
for that purpose, to England, without delay. As this 
conduct was striking at the root of all discipline, it was 
determined to supersede him, and Rear-Admiral Stir- 
ling was chosen for that purpose. It was, however, a 
command which he had great reluctance to undertake : 
he considered that government had been forced to 
adopt measures respecting Buenos- Ayres which there 
was no reason for pursuing but what arose from wild 
speculation ; and as the English had not heen invited 
thither, insurmountable difficulties would arise either 
in making conquests or in keeping possession ; whilst 
the most fatal effects would follow in the event of a 
failure. With this impression on his mind, he made 
every objection, consistent with his sense of duty, to 
the acceptance of the command : indeed, had it not 

deavoured to rectify the mistake by writing a third letter to 
the Admiralty respecting the battle, in which due mention , 
was made of the assistance I had afforded him. But this was 
a very insufficient atonement-, the mischief was already 
done. AH people read with avidity the first news of a victory, 
and the names of those by whom it has been achieved cling 
to their memory ; but an explanation, or an apology, is read 
by few, and remembered but imperfectly. 



24 

been his opinion that it is the duty of an officer to go 
wherever his country calls, he would not have accepted 
it. On his approach to the Rio dela Plata*, he heard 

* On my arrival in the Rio de la Plata, I found that my 
predecessor had declaredBuenos-Ayresin a state of blockade, 
and had seized all American vessels that had broken it. I 
strongly objected to sanction such arbitrary conduct, but 
the captains of the squadron as strongly urged me to ac- 
quiesce. I might have made a great deal of money by al- 
lowing the captains to act on their own responsibility, and 
could not have been a loser if they had acted contrary to 
law - y but the whole blockade seemed to be so unwarranted, 
that I directed the river should be left open, until the plea- 
sure of government, as to future operations, was made known. 
Two vessels were sent to the Cape of Good Hope and con- 
demned ; the others were released, on my refusing to sanction 
their detention. 

The expenses in the Rio de la Plata would have been 
enormous if I had courted popularity by winking at the ex- 
travagance in which the heads of departments were disposed 
to indulge. But sooner than sanction such unjustifiable 
proceedings, I took upon myself the task of regulating the 
expenditure with the utmost care and watchfulness. 

I constantly refused to pass any account, or to give any 
expenses the authority of my signature, without having sa- 
tisfied myself of their correctness; and I believe many mil- 
lions have been lost, from officers in power being too much 
in the habit of considering their signatures on these oc- 
casions as mere matter of form. 

The squadron (together with a regiment of dragoons for 
one month, and 2000 prisoners for two months,) was supplied 
with soft bread, fresh beef, fruit, and vegetables, from the be- 
ginning of February until June following, when I was su- 



25 

that Major -General Beresford, with his .little army 
consisting of 1300 men, had been captured at Buenos- 
Ayres by the Spaniards, and the place retaken ; and 
on his arrival in Maldonado roads, he found about 2000 
troops, who had arrived from the Cape of Good 
Hope, in possession of a miserable post, that could not 
have been held one day if the enemy had attacked it 
with any degree of spirit and judgment ; and he fur- 
ther learned, that an unsuccessful attempt had been 
made by the troops to take Monte-Video. 

Admiral Stirling now became convinced of the cor- 
rectness of the opinions he had formed relative to those 
provinces previous to his leaving England ; and seeing 
that the majority of the people were inimical to the 
interests of England, he determined to try a concilia- 

perseded, without any further expense to the public than 5000 
dollars, which had been put on board one of the ships by my 
predecessor, without leaving any particular directions for 
their employment. I therefore directed them to be applied, 
as I was justified in doing, to this purpose; and I think it 
will be allowed I made pretty good use of the money. 

The movement of the army from Maldonado to Monte- 
Video did not cost government one shilling for the naval 
department. The troops, during the siege, had provisions 
and spirits from the squadron; and what was bought cost no 
more than it would have done in England, notwithstanding 
the exorbitant demands of the merchants. Every thing was 
prepared for moving General Whitelocke and his army to 
Buenos-Ayres before the arrival of my successor, Rear-Ad- 
miral George Murray, for a few hundred pounds, at least so 
far as the naval department was concerned. 

D 



26 

tory plan, feeling confident, that if the British govern* 
ment were fully acquainted with the real situation of 
affairs, they would not persist in weakening the force 
at home, without a probability of any adequate advan- 
tage. In conjunction, therefore, with Lieutenant-Co- 
lonel Backhouse, he wrote a letter to the viceroy, the 
Marquis of Sabre-Monte, intending, if he could have 
obtained the release of the English prisoners, to with- 
draw from the river. An unfavourable answer was, 
however, returned, and a reinforcement of troops un* 
der Sir S. Auchmuty having arrived, it was determined 
to commence operations against Monte-Video. It was 
accordingly invested, but owing to the shallowness of 
the water the large ships were unable to approach near 
enough to use their guns : every assistance was, how- 
ever, afforded which zeal, courage, and intrepidity could 
suggest; not less than 13 or 1400 seamen were landed, 
conveying supplies and harassing the enemy ; and the 
flag-ship (the Diadem) was often left with only thirty 
men on board. Owing to the protracted defence of 
the enemy, the ammunition of the besiegers began to 
fail, and when a practicable breach was reported, only 
two days' powder remained; an assault then took 
place, which was fortunately attended with brilliant 
success, and the place was carried by storm. This se- 
cured to the captors the thanks of Parliament. But 
notwithstanding this favourable result, Admiral Stir- 
ling still retained his opinion relative to the object of 
the expedition, without independence was declared, or 



27 

security given for protection against the Spanish mon- 
archy in the event of peace ; and this in opposition 
to almost the whole of the naval and military officers 
present, who were anxious to advance immediately on 
the reduction of the fortress. Had the admiral been ac- 
tuated by mercenary considerations, self-interest would 
have urged him to an opposite line of conduct, to have 
fallen in with those sanguine expectations which we*e 
formed, and to have urged the necessity of proceeding 
without delay, as success, before the arrival of a suc- 
cessor, would have given him riches and another vote 
of thanks ; but he preferred the interests of his country 
to all minor considerations, and strenuously contended 
for keeping possession of a strong-hold, without ha- 
zarding failure in any further operations, until the British 
government should be enabled to judge what other 
measures should be adopted. 

On the 10th May, General Whitelocke arrived, to 
whom Admiral Stirling freely communicated his senti- 
ments on the state of affairs in the Rio de la Plata, 
and particularly urged the necessity of economy in 
every department ; and refused to sanction a proposal 
for taking up vessels and tenders, and hiring ships to 
carry horses, &c. up the river, when the army moved, 
considering the ships of war and transports sufficient 
for that purpose. On the 14th June, Admiral Murray 
arrived off Monte- Video, and assumed the chief com- 
mand of the squadron ; when those preparations which 
had been made for attacking Buenos- Ayres were con- 
D 2 



28 

centratecl, and a day fixed for carrying the object into 
effect. Admiral Stirling was then left with four dis- 
mantled ships of the line to assist in defending Monte- 
Video, which was left in a very exposed situation. It 
is here almost needless to observe, that the attack un- 
der General Whitelocke completely failed*, and that he 
was glad to purchase a retreat by undertaking to with- 
draw the British forces from both banks of the river, 
after having lost 3000 men in killed, wounded, and 
prisoners. 

Admiral Stirling now proceeded to the Cape of 

* From the disastrous termination of the affair at Buenos- 
.Ayres, I am not inclined to say more of General Whitelocke 
than what is intimately connected with my own conduct. 
The general was of opinion that we should get no prize- 
money unless the place was taken hy force of arms: but I 
thought every advantage contemplated by the government 
would be obtained by negociation ; though I perfectly agreed 
that, without fighting, we should not get possession of three 
millions of dollars, which were understood to be deposited 
in the town, Had I been influenced by mercenary views, I 
should have urged the general to advance before the arrival 
of my successor, as I had all to gain and nothing personal 
to hazard : I preferred, however, that line of conduct which 
I thought most conducive to the good of my country, and 
thus neglected an opportunity of greatly adding to my for- 
tune. Had Buenos-Ayres been taken, the shipping and 
public property at Monte-Video would immediately have 
doubled in value, to say nothing of the additional prize- 
money I should have received from the capture of so rich a 
city. 



29 

Good Hope*, to which station he had at first been 
appointed, and where he continued till 1808, when he 
returned to England. In July 1810, he was promoted 

* On my arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, I found that all 
the fuel had been bought up on speculation, and the squa- 
dron was very short of it. The price demanded for it was 
most exorbitant, coals being 301. a chaldron. Those pursers 
who could not afford to furnish their ships had hitherto been 
allowed a certain sum for this purpose, which amounted, 
in the last year of the late war, to 10,000Z. j but I had no 
intention to sanction the extravagant imposition. Just as 
it was thought distress would make me comply, I found 
some wood at a distance on government ground, and with 
this I supplied the squadron, when the price of wood imme- 
diately fell 300 per cent. Another imposition attempted to 
be practised, consisted in the extravagant prices demanded 
for fruit and vegetables, at a time when the scurvy had 
risen to such a height, that half the crews of some ships were 
disabled. In this extremity I fortunately discovered a field 
of wild asparagus, which was found effectually to answer 
the purpose 5 and the scurvy vanished without the loss 
of a single man, and without costing the government a 
shilling. 

The Naval Hospital had also been a great source of pecu- 
lation. Many thousands of pounds had been squandered 
there. I called for vouchers to send to the respective 
Boards; and not being satisfied with what was done, I re- 
fused to allow men to be sent on shore, resolving to shut up 
the hospital altogether: but I left the station so soon after- 
wards, that this resolution was not carried into effect. 

I may mention another instance in which I was the means 
of saving a large sum of the public money : 

An estimate was made just before my arrival for repairs 
D 3 



30 

to the rank of vice-admiral, and in the following month 
was presented with the freedom of the city of London, 
as a testimony of the high opinion entertained of his 

for the naval yard (which was in great danger from inun- 
dation), and 3000Z. was the sum thought necessary to pre- 
serve the public buildings from destruction. Having con- 
sulted with people competent to give advice, and ascertained 
the mode of accomplishing the object, I landed a certain 
number of seamen (who were employed in picking stones, 
and doing the other necessary work); and the result was, 
that the government got this job done at the trifling expense 
of sixpence per diem to each man, and the purchase of a 
few casks of lime. 

Again : When the squadron was ready for sea, there was 
great want of some articles,which had, in expectation of this 
demand, risen very high in the market. A prize, in which 
I was entitled to share, had on board some of the articles 
most immediately wanted, and had I allowed them to be 
purchased out of her at the market price with the govern* 
ment money, I should have realized 200 per cent, more by 
the produce than I afterwards did ; but wishing to prevent 
the public money from being squandered, I would not allow 
the agent-victualler to make any purchases in the then state 
of the market, and got what was requisite out of some In- 
diamen at a very moderate price. 

The rate of exchange, too, was very disadvantageous to 
government whilst I was at the Cape, and I got much ill-will 
from the part I took in my endeavours to improve it. I con- 
fess, however, I was not so successful here as I had been at 
Jamaica and Monte-Video. At Rio Janeiro government 
bills were at 20 per cent, discount, whilst the bills of indivi- 
duals were taken at par. To avoid such impositions, I or- 
dered Captain dimming, of the ship where my flag was fly- 



31 

public services. In October 1811, he was appointed 
to the chief command at Jamaica; but in 1812, Sir 
John Warren having been appointed to the chief com- 
mand on the coast of North America, the two stations 
were consolidated, and Admiral Stirling became only 
second in command. The command at Jamaica was 
always, during the war, considered a place of great 
emolument and patronage ; but from the moment Ad- 
miral Stirling became second in command, his authority 
and consequence were of course diminished, and, as is 
often the case, people shewed a disposition to thwart 

ing, to take out of one of the public boxes the sum wanted 
to pay for fresh beef and the few things I would allow to be 
purchased, which had the desired effect. 

At the termination of my command in the southern hemi- 
sphere the amount of all bills sanctioned by me did not, I 
believe, exceed 20,000?. for the year ; whilst in the preceding 
year, in a state of service precisely similar, more than 
100,0002. had been expended. 

In speaking of the Cape of Good Hope, I may be allowed 
to mention another circumstance, which, for the time, made 
me little less unpopular amongst the captains than the sys- 
tem of economy I have before alluded to. I caused all the 
captains of the squadron to make a return to me monthly of 
the punishment they inflicted on their crews. A violent 
clamour was raised hereupon, and I was told that I exceeded 
my authority. I persisted, however; and the plan which, 
I believe, I am correct in saying, was first adopted by me, 
was so far approved by the Admiralty, that it has since 
formed a part of their official instructions. 



32 

and attack him, who before kept at a respectful dis- 
tance. 

In June 1813, he was superseded by Rear- Admiral 
Brown, but was not brought to a court-martial till 
May 1814, when he was charged with having let 
out his Majesty's ships as convoy, for the purpose of 
putting money into his own pocket, and convicted 
upon the slightest evidence that, we believe, was ever 
offered to a court of justice. It would greatly exceed 
our limits to insert the minutes of the proceedings, but 
we shall give every part that bears directly on the 
charge, and also such parts of the defence as are 
necessary for the admiral's vindication. 

The court having met on the 7th day, an order from 
the Lords of the Admiralty was read, setting forth that 
Sir John Warren had, in a letter to them dated Ber- 
muda, June 1, 1813, transmitted a copy of a letter 
which he had received from Commissioner Wolley at 
Jamaica, dated the preceding February, " stating the 
disrespectful manner in which his Majesty's naval ser- 
vice on the Jamaica station had been publicly spoken 
of, in regard to the hiring of ships of war as convoy to 
vessels going to the Spanish Main ; and that the same 
was done very frequently, and without fear of public 
notice, as the money contracted to be paid on a convoy 
being granted was said to be on account of freight of 
a specific amount in specie, which the petitioners for 
convoy engaged should be shipped on the Main ; and 
whether shipped or not, that freight, at the rate of 2i 



33 

per cent, should be paid on a stipulated sum previously 
agreed upon, so as to make the voyage a sure one ; 
which money was divided amongst the captain of the 
ship, the admiral, and his secretary :" and reporting an 
occurrence of that kind which then had recently taken 
place, in the words following : "A Mr. Pallachi, of the 
house of Moravia and Co. merchants in Kingston, made 
a bargain with Bogle and Co. Vice-Admiral Stirling's 
agents, for the hire of his Majesty's sloop Sappho, to 
convoj r two British schooners, laden with dry goods, 
to the Havannah. I am informed that Bogle and Co. 
insisted that the sum of two thousand dollars should be 
paid down before the Sappho proceeded to sea ; that 
the two thousand dollars were accordingly paid to 
them, and a receipt demanded by Mr. Pallachi for the 
same ; that a receipt was given for the full sum by a 
clerk from the house of Atkinson, Bogle, and Co. (who 
are Captain O 'Grady's agents), who was sent to give 
such receipt, and in return received from Bogle and 
Co. a receipt for Vice-Admiral Stirling's and his secre- 
tary's proportions, the amount of which was previ- 
ously deducted from the sum received. I have reason 
to believe that the business was completed without 
Captain O 'Grady's knowledge and concurrence, and 
that the money was paid to his agents by the agents of 
the vice-admiral before Captain O'Grady knew of it." 
Such was the nature of the charge brought against 
Vice-Admiral Stirling, in support of which were pro- 
duced affidavits from Pallachi and a clerk in Atkinson, 



34 

Bogle, and Co.'s house, proving that " the two thou- 
sand dollars were paid to Bogle and Co. the admiral's 
agents, for the convoy of a schooner that was to sail 
under the protection of his Majesty's said sloop Sappho, 
and of which sum one-third was detained by Bogle and 
Co. as the proportion or share thereof of Vice-Admiral 
Stirling, and 5 per cent, further on the other two- 
thirds, as the share of Vice- Admiral Stirling's secre- 
tary." 

At the commencement of the proceedings, Admiral 
Stirling was persuaded, against the suggestions of his 
own judgment, to object to the jurisdiction of the court* 
to try a charge arising from a transaction that took 
place on shore ; and also against the affidavits being 
received in evidence ; " a person accused of crime 
having, by the law of England, a right to see the wit* 
nesses whose evidence is brought against him, and to 
cross-examine them ; and their affidavits or depo- 
sitions can in no case he received against him, except 
only where it is so permitted by particular statutes, in 
cases where the witnesses are dead, where the deposi- 
tions have been taken, under the authority of those 

* It was the opinion of Mr. Sergeant Blossett that the pre- 
judice against me at Portsmouth was so strong, that it was 
an object to get the trial removed into another court. Un- 
doubtedly, as the event turned out, great advantage must 
have arisen to me from being tried before a tribunal which 
would admit onty that evidence which was, strictly speaking, 
legal. I was very reluctant, however, to take the objection, 
and in the result I believe it did me much harm. 



35 

statutes, for the purpose of trial and in the presence 
of the prisoner." These objections were, however* 
overruled, and the affidavits were read. But the only 
witness who was brought forward on this occasion was 
Captain O' Grady, a party implicated, and who, we 
think, ought rather to have stood in the situation of 
the accused, than of the witness. He gave the fol* 
lowing evidence : 

" On or about the 1st February, 181.3, the Sappho 
was refitting at Port Royal ; I was acquainted by 
Lieutenant Roberts, the first lieutenant, that a signal 
had been made by telegraph to go to the Penn by way 
of Kingston, and to call at Mr. Bogle's, Admiral Stir* 
ling's agent : I did so ; when Mr. Bogle informed me 
that Admiral Stirling intended to give me a freight* 
and that if I called the next morning he would let me 
know more about it. I said I was thankful, and that 
I was going to the admiral's if he had any commands. 
I then went to the admiral's (Stirling) at the Penn : he 
asked me if I had seen Mr. Bogle ; I answered, yes. 
After some conversation not connected with this busi- 
ness, I returned to Kingston. The next morning I 
called on Mr. Bogle ; he told me he w T as not able to 
settle the business yet, not having seen the Spaniard, 
but did not mention his name. He also said he would 
endeavour to have it settled, as he knew the Spaniards 
were not always inclined to do justice, having had an 
instance of that before. I then left him, and went to 
Port Royal, where I found the admiral mustering the 



36 

crew of the Seahorse : he called me aside on the 
quarter-deck, and asked me if the freight was settled ; 
I answered, no ; that Mr. Bogle had not seen the 
freighter. I then told him the Sappho would be ready 
to sail the next morning, being the time I was ordered 
to be ready for sea. He then said, ' You will not sail 
till the day after, as I am not ready for you/ He 
said, ' You need not say any thing about the freight/ 
The admiral then left the ship." 

The following day Captain O' Grady dined with the 
admiral, and after dinner the admiral drove him in his 
carriage towards Kingston, where his boat was ; but 
on getting out of the carriage, " the admiral told me 
he was going to Mr. Bogle's, and asked me if I wished 
to see him or not before I went. I answered, yes ; 
that I should like to see Mr. Bogle before I sailed. I 
again got into the carriage, and drove to Mr. Bogle's, 
who received us in the hall. After some conversation 
usual on salutation, Mr. Bogle mentioned to me the 
two thousand dollars he had got, and that my agent, 
Mr. Adams, had consented to receive thirteen hundred 
and odd dollars, I think ; I am not exact as to the 
sum. Shortly afterwards the admiral w T ent away with 
his party ; I went up to Mr. Bogle whilst he was get- 
ting the chaise ready, and when ready, went to my 
agent, Mr. Adams, respecting this business ." 

£. Was the admiral present, and in the hearing of 
what Mr. Bogle said to you on the subject of the two 
thousand dollars received ? 



37 

A. The admiral was present, but I cannot say that 
he heard : Mr. Bogle stood close by me, and the admi- 
ral was about a couple of paces from him. My belief 
is, that he must have heard : his face was towards Mr. 
Bogle, and he appeared to be attending to what Mr. 
Bogle said ; but he did not say a word, and no one 
spoke but Mr. Bogle. I made some trifling answer 
myself — yes, or very well, or something of that sort. 
I sailed the next morning ; I had no freight or money 
on board ; and on my return from the Bay of Hondu- 
ras, having been nearly six months absent, I wrote to 
my agent, directing him to return what he had received 
from Mr. Bogle for me. He was afterwards informed 
by Mr. Adams, that the person who had paid the 
money refused to take part, and wished to know whe- 
ther he should oblige Mr. Bogle to refund what he had 
deducted as the admiral's and secretary's shares ; but 
he desired, if the person tG whom the money belonged 
refused to receive a part, that it should be counted into 
a bag and thrown into his counting-house. 

S. At what time did it strike you there was some 
irregularity in the proceedings ? 

A. When I met the admiral on board the Seahorse ; 
as he was not more communicative, I had an idea of it, 
which idea was confirmed by Mr. Bogle's communica- 
tion. 

£. Is it consistent with your knowledge that Vice- 
Admiral Stirling was privy to the communication made 
to you by Mr. Bogle ? 

E 



38 

A. I am induced to think so by what I have already 
stated to the court, but by nothing else. 

2. When the vice-admiral told you that you had 
better not say any thing about the freight, what did 
you suppose was his motive for that observation ? 

A. I before stated, that I had some idea that things 
were not correct from his saying so ; at the same time, 
I knew things of that sort were often said concerning 
transactions where there was no irregularity, 

2. Did you make any inquiry of Mr. Bogle how the 
freight was to arise, as you had no money shipped ? 

A. No, I did not. 

2. Did you ask Mr. Bogle, when he said that two 
thousand dollars had been received, for what purposes 
they were paid ? 

A. I asked no question whatever, either of Mr, Bo- 
gle or any one else. 

2. Did any conversation pass in the presence of 
Admiral Stirling, which could lead to a suspicion or 
disclosure of the purposes for which the money was 
paid ? 

A. I have already stated what passed in the pre- 
sence of Admiral Stirling ; nothing more passed in his 
presence. 

2. Did you suppose that the money paid was for 
the hire of the king's ship ? 

A . I have already stated, that I drew that conclusion 
from what I have stated to the court. If Mr. Bogle, 
or the admiral, or the person who paid the sum in 



39 

question, had mentioned to me that that sum was re- 
ceived for the hire of the ship I commanded, I should 
not have had the smallest hesitation in mentioning my 
opinion of the circumstance to the admiral. 

2. Did you believe that the sum was given for the 
convoy the Sappho afforded ? 

A. Yes, I believed it was : Mr. Mitchell, a gentle- 
man of the Havannah, informed me that the Spaniards 
found fault with the ship coming down with me, as the 
money was paid for the schooners. 

£. Did you not receive on board any large quantity 
of dollars at Truxillo ? 

A. Yes ; I think about thirteen thousand ; and after 
that, I received some at the gulf of Dulce, which I 
took to the Havannah. 

£. Was that before you returned to Jamaica ? 

A. Yes ; in the execution of the admiral's orders, 
being directed to communicate by the Havannah. 

Having now stated the charge, and the means by 
which it was attempted to be supported, we shall insert 
such parts of the admiral's defence as relate immedi- 
ately to the subject. Respecting the assertions con- 
tained in Commissioner Wolley's letter, the admiral 
said, " In support of this statement of a practice 
stated to be so frequent as to be the subject of general 
conversation, and so disgraceful as to bring the whole 
naval service into disrepute, one instance only is speci- 
fied. It is somewhat extraordinary, that a gentleman 
writing upon a subject with which he ought to be well 
E 2 



40 

acquainted, and upon an occasion affecting the honour 
and character of a brother officer, should express him- 
self in a manner so loose and equivocal as Com- 
missioner Wolley has done. As I understand the 
charge, it is, that I or my agent was in the practice of 
receiving freight beforehand, as a colour for corruptly 
letting out his Majesty's ships for convoy, when no 
specie was intended to be put on board, either on sail- 
ing or on the return voyage. This seems to be im- 
plied in Commissioner Wolley 's accusation with regard 
to the Sappho, though it is not expressly stated. My 
answer to that charge is, that if there w r ere any thing 
in that transaction fraudulent, or colourable, or differ- 
ing in any respect from the usual application for con- 
voy, from a representation of a shipment of specie, I 
was entirely ignorant of it. The charge against me 
substantially rests upon Captain G'Grady's evidence, 
from whence it is to be seen whether I have been 
proved guilty of corruptly letting to hire his Majesty's 
ships for convoy. He positively declares that he never 
knew of any such bargain or hire ; but he states that, 
from certain circumstances, he suspected the transac- 
tion to be irregular, and ultimately ordered the money 
to be returned. The court, I am sure, will see that I 
am not bound by Captain O'Grady's suspicions, but by 
my own actions ; and will constantly keep in view the 
point I have already stated, carefully examining how 
far the evidence applies to it. It is necessary for this 
purpose to examine the circumstances Captain O'Grady 



41 

speaks to, and also his conduct : first, to see what im- 
pressions they really made upon him ; and, secondly, 
how they are connected with me, 

" It appears from Pallachi's own affidavit, that the 
whole transaction respecting the convoy passed be- 
tween himself and Mr. Bogle. From my knowledge 
of Mr. Bogle's character, and from the instructions I 
uniformly gave him, I cannot bring myself to believe 
that he would make a corrupt contract, either on my 
account or his own ; and I can, and do most positively 
state, that he never had any authority from me to 
make such a contract, nor ever made any communica- 
tion to me that he had done so. The Sappho was at 
that time intended to sail on public service to the Bay 
of Honduras, with orders, as Captain O'Grady has 
expressed it, of a very extensive and complicated na- 
ture. Mr. Bogle was a merchant resident at King- 
ston ; he was in constant communication with other 
merchants resident there, as well as with captains of 
king's ships, to many of whom he was agent. From 
motives, therefore, of personal convenience to others, 
rather than to myself, I did not object to his communi- 
cating with parties interested in the sailing of convoys . 
Ihad no reason to suppose that the application by Mr. 
Pallachi for convoy to the Havannah was made under 
any improper circumstances. I understood that a 
freight for specie was to be paid for by him : I was 
glad that Captain O'Grady, for whom I had a personal 
E 3 



42 

regard*, was to have the benefit of that freight ; but 
I did not interfere farther in the detail of the business, 
which rather belonged to the merchant who was to pay 
the freight, and to the captain who was to receive it, 
than to myself. It was under that impression that I 
asked Captain O'Grady, on board the Seahorse, whe- 
ther the freight was settled ; it was under the same 
impression on his mind that his answer was returned : 
c No, Mr. Bogle had not seen the freighter/ It is 
evident from this answer, that he was in communication 
with Mr. Bogle on the subject of the freight, and that 
he considered it as I did, a concern of his own. The 
same idea remained on his mind the following day, 
when, upon my asking whether he wished to see Mr. 
Bogle before he went, he said, yes ; and that he, and 
not I, then conversed with Mr. Bogle, and that Mr. 
Bogle wrote to him, and not to me, upon the subject 
of freight. Whether Mr. Pallachi had or had not in 
his contemplation the shipment of specie at the Ha- 

* I extract this and the following note from the " Case," 
to which allusion is made in the preceding pages, and which 
contains the " Minutes" and every particular of my Court- 
Martial: 

" Mr. Bogle had told me that Captain O'Grady was dis- 
tressed for money, and as I had every reason to believe there 
was a considerable sum ready for shipment at the Havannah, 
which he would take up when he called there on his return 
from Honduras, the service was done him by sending him 
on such a voyage, and not by assisting him to get money im- 
properly before he sailed. "~ Case, p. 34. 



43 

vannah, it was impossible for me to know. There was 
nothing unreasonable in the supposition that he had. 
It was well known, and the documents before the court 
prove, that his house was in the habit of shipping large 
quantities of specie at the Spanish Main. What re- 
presentation he made to Mr. Bogle does not appear in 
evidence, nor am I acquainted with it. From facts 
which have since transpired, it appears he had no such 
intentions ; but I cannot persuade myself that he was 
not duped by his representations. The convoy ap- 
pears to have been an object of value and importance 
to him, and we have already seen to what artifices per- 
sons of his description would resort, to accomplish 
their objects. 

" Captain O'Grady states, that, before he sailed, his 
suspicions were awakened by my desiring him not to 
talk about the freight, and by his not finding that any 
specie was on board. Almost in the same breath, he 
disposes of both these causes of suspicion ; for he ad- 
mits that specie is never shipped from Jamaica to the 
Spanish Main, and that I frequently admonished my 
officers not to be too free in their conversation re- 
specting particular matters of duty. He is quite cor- 
rect in his statement. The obtaining of freight in the 
West Indies is a matter of some anxiety amongst the 
captains, and, in my opinion, was too frequently made 
the subject of their conversation ; and there were 
many reasons why I should endeavour to repress it. 
It is plain, therefore, that neither of these circumstances 



44 

gave him just grounds for surprise, much less for sus- 
picion. And what was his conduct before he sailed ? 
If he had seriously suspected some impropriety, he 
might easily have ascertained whether or not his sus- 
picions were well founded ; but from the 2d February, 
when he pretends that his suspicions were first excited, 
until the 4th, when he sailed, he neither stated them to 
me nor to Mr. Bogle, notwithstanding the interview on 
the 3d, for the express purpose of his talking to Mr. 
Bogle on the subject. It is also very remarkable, that 
he does not state himself to have suspected any thing 
from the conversation with Mr. Bogle during that in- 
terview at which I was present, and where he says that 
Mr. Bogle declared to him that he had got 2000 dol- 
lars, and that Mr. Adams, his agent, had consented to 
receive two-thirds of them. I do not expect that my 
declaration will be received to contradict testimony 
given upon oath, but upon a subject upon which Cap- 
tain O'Grady cannot take upon himself to speak with 
certainty, I may be permitted positively to assert, that 
I did not hear those words, which, according to the 
evidence, were addressed to Captain O'Grady alone. 
But supposing that they had been heard by both of us, to 
what did they amount, more than to an intimation that 
the freight had been paid in advance ? If it raised no 
unfavourable impression on his mind, how could it be 
evidence against me of a corrupt and guilty knowledge 
of having let out his Majesty's ships for hire or convoy ? 
" Let me now examine what circumstances arose 



45 

after Captain 0' Grady left Jamaica, which raised, ac- 
cording to his statement, a farther suspicion in his mind. 
Upon his arrival at the Havannah he received no specie 
on board, and he had a conversation with two persons 
of the name of Mitchell, from whom he collected their 
opinion that the transaction was irregular. I need not 
state that this conversation of persons entirely unknown 
to me, and never communicated to me, proves nothing 
against me ; but I apprehend that it was Captain 
O'Grady's duty to communicate these facts to me. The 
conversations of the Mitchells, and the circumstance 
of no specie being shipped at the Havannah, undoubt- 
edly raised a strong presumption that a fraud had been 
practised. But Captain O'Grady, in the interval be- 
tween that time and my removal from the station, wrote 
me three letters on service, which are before the court, 
and in none of them took the least notice of what he 
had discovered at the Havannah. He had the oppor- 
tunity, by the same conveyances, to write to his agents, 
to disclose the same facts to them, and to order the 
money to be refunded to Pallachi. He took no step 
whatever for this purpose ; but two days after his re- 
turn to Jamaica, long after I had left the station, with- 
out calling for any explanation from any of the parties 
concerned, he insisted upon the money being returned ; 
and then, for the first time, adopting the view of the 
transaction which had been given of it by my enemies 
in that island, broadly stated in his letter, that it had 
been obtained by me, or my agents, contrary to the 



46 

rules of the service. It is not difficult to collect from 
these circumstances at what time Captain O'Grady's 
opinion was first formed. So late as January 1814, he 
provided himself with the two affidavits mentioned in 
the charge, the chief object of which was to discharge 
him from any suspicion of knowledge or privity in the 
business ; and Commissioner Wolley concludes his 
letter by stating, that he had every reason to believe 
that it was completed without his (Captain O'Grady's) 
knowledge and concurrence ; and that even the money 
was paid to his agents by mine before he knew of it : 
w r hereas, from his own evidence and Mr. Bogle's letter, 
it appears he knew as much or more than I did from 
the beginning. He had the same access to Mr. Bogle 
as I had, and there is no fact in the case which it is 
proved, or can be pretended, that I was acquainted 
with, which it is not also proved that Captain O'Grady 
equally well knew ; and I have a right to complain, 
that when he came to the knowlege of that of which I 
was ignorant, he did not immediately consult his own 
duty and my honour in communicating it to me. But 
I am at a loss to conceive how it is that the suspicions 
of Captain O'Grady, arising from facts communicated 
to him at a distance from me, unknown to me, and never 
related to me, can be evidence against me of having 
let to hire his Majesty's ships for convoy. 

" With respect to the charge of my having acted in 
this transaction from any corrupt motive, it is not only 
unsupported by any evidence, but it is disproved by 



47 

every circumstance in the case. The ultimate be* 
nefit of it, for the most part, belonged to others. From 
the very statement of the charge, Captain O'Grady was 
to have received two-thirds of it ; and Commissioner 
Wolley has omitted the fact of my then being one of 
five junior admirals under the command of Sir J. B. 
Warren, and consequently entitled to only one-tenth of 
the remaining third, being about sixteen pounds ster- 
ling ! 

" It cannot be answered to this observation, that this 
decision would be avoided by the matter being kept 
secret ; for the publicity with which it was done is 
stated in aggravation of my offence ; and that it was 
also taken in the name of freight, which of itself en- 
titled other admirals to call upon me to account for it. 
So that the court is seriously called upon to believe, 
that an officer of the rank which I have the honour 
to bear, for the consideration of sixteen pounds, in a 
place where persons hostile to my interests were watch- 
ing all my actions, let out one of his Majesty's ships 
of war for the convoy of a merchant- vessel ; and that 
this bargain was publicly made and acknowledged ; 
that the matter was discussed in Mr. Bogle's hall in the 
presence of my first lieutenant, my secretary, and the 
captain of the king's ship ; and that afterwards clerks 
were sent for to witness the transaction and give re- 
ceipts for the money, specifying how much fell to the 
share of the captain, and how much to that of the ad- 
miral. And lest the matter should by any possibility 



48 

escape a public disclosure, it is even suggested, that 
offence was given to the parties from whom the bribe 
was extorted ! ! I ask, where in the whole body of this 
evidence the court see the character of fraud and cor- 
ruption ? Corruption and peculation are secret and self- 
ish ; innocence is always open and undisguised. Had a 
dishonest peculation been my object, I might easily have 
obtained it. Had I been capable of perverting my 
public duty to private interests, I might have done so 
by means which would have at once concealed all evi- 
dence of my crime, and secured to myself the whole 
advantage of it. But my accuser was aware that every 
thing that was done was publicly done ; that nothing 
was behind the curtain ; that the facts to be proved 
were notorious to every one who desired to know them : 
he was aware that no private transaction was to be 
brought to light, no secret practices to be disclosed 
against me ; and he, therefore, with a singular dexterity, 
boldly lays to my charge even the openness of my con* 
duct, and attempts to establish and to aggravate my 
crime by what is considered in all cases as the surest 
test of innocence. 

11 Were the observations arising from the evidence 
less strong in my favour than they are, I hope I might 
safely rely on the character I have acquired and main- 
tained during forty years of active employment in his 
Majesty's service, to repel a charge supported by no 
stronger proofs. I have been selected to command on 
stations where purity, integrity, and honesty were at 



49 

least as essential as personal bravery and professional 
skill ; and in the execution of my duty on those sta- 
tions, I have the happiness to reflect, that I have ob- 
tained the thanks of both Houses of Parliament, and 
the approbation of those who sent me on those ser- 
vices. If in a court of British officers the word and 
honour of a British admiral deserve regard, permit me 
to conclude by the most solemn assurance, that neither 
on this, nor on any other occasion, am I conscious of 
having wilfully deviated, in the slightest degree, from 
the path of honour or of my duty." 

Notwithstanding this powerful appeal, notwithstand- 
ing this clear exposition of the case, notwithstanding 
the weak and loose nature of the charge in Commis* 
sioner Wolley's letter, and notwithstanding the unsa- 
tisfactory nature of Captain O'Grady's evidence, the 
court decided that the charge had been in part proved ; 
and did adjudge that Vice -Admiral Stirling should re- 
main on the half-pay list, and not be included in any 
future promotion ! a sentence which, we must confess 
(notwithstanding the high and respectable names of 
those officers who composed the court), does appear 
to us unsupported by the evidence produced. Courts- 
martial are by some persons held in very high estima- 
tion ; and we must own that upon the face of them they 
appear to be well calculated to attain the end in view — 
to administer fair and impartial justice : they are com- 
posed of men of the same profession as the accused ; 
they are in general possessed of the same feelings, and 

F 



50 

animated with the same desires, the same anxieties for 
the honour and reputation of the country, and are well 
calculated to make every allowance for the difficulties 
of situation and the weakness of human nature. And 
yet in talking upon this subject with a gentleman who 
had sat upon upwards of forty courts-martial, he said, 
" Whatever may be brought forward in favour of 
courts-martial, I never sat down with one in my life 
where I thought the whole of the members were per- 
fectly impartial ; I could see some kind of prejudice 
rankling in their breasts. Without regard to the proof 
of the charge, they got hold of something upon which 
suspicion might hinge, and which they thought suffi- 
cient to satisfy their own consciences, without thinking 
sufficiently of the legality of their proceedings." This 
appears to be somewhat the case in the present instance, 
and is pretty clearly pointed out by Mr. Const, whose 
opinion was taken on the occasion. 

" It is unfortunate," says he, " for the vice-admiral, 
that the charge was not more precise, as it involves all 
the detail of the information transmitted from, as well as 
the impression made on the minds of the public in, Jar 
maica,described pretty forcibly byCommissioner Wolley, 
as well as the substance of an affidavit, and some letters 
from other persons, all of which I should have ven- 
tured to doubt the propriety of admitting in evidence, 
if it had not been for the solemn decision of the court 
(011 the subject taken), that they were admissible, that 
is, that they were legal evidence ; for on nothing short 
of it, I must presume, would such a sentence have been 



51 

pronounced. In looking at Captain O'Grady's evi- 
dence, I cannot perceive which part of the charge was 
proved : his testimony establishes the fact of the ad- 
miral having, in the technical phrase used, ■ given him 
a freight/ for which he professed himself thankful ; 
that money was paid on account of this freight ; and 
that he afterwards discovered that no money had been 
put on board by the freighter, as Mr. Bogle emphati- 
cally termed him. This, with the information of Mr. 
Bogle's letter, the signature of which w T as acknow- 
ledged, seems to contain all the facts of the evidence. 
He, however, deposes to two conversations, the first 
on board the Seahorse, when the vice-admiral said, ' he 
need not say any thing about the freight \ which words 
he acknowledges were often used when nothing irre- 
gular could be intended : yet it gave him so?ne idea that 
things mere not correct. It is a pity that this idea was 
not sufficiently strong to have induced him to make 
some inquiry, or to have produced some intimation to 
the vice-admiral of his suspicion ; but instead of so 
doing, he goes to sea, and is absent six months : but 
neither from Honduras nor the Havannah did he 
make any report of the irregularity, which, at least, he 
must then have been acquainted with ; and yet, on his 
arrival at Jamaica, it operated so strongly on him, that 
he ordered his share to be thrown into the counting- 
house of the person entitled to it. I do not see what 
this proves, either against the vice-admiral, or in fa- 
vour of Captain O'Grady ; because at that time the 
F2 



52 

former had left Jamaica, and was consequently pre- 
vented from doing the same thing when he was aware 
of the irregularity ; and the latter could do no less 
as a man of honour, for at that instant it was a public 
topic of conversation in the island ; and this seems to 
have been the first moment he thought restitution neces- 
sary. 

" The other conversation took place between Mr, 
Bogle and himself, at which the admiral was present : 
but he cannot say he heard it ; and the little weight the 
words alluded to had with him, seems estimated by his 
making some trifling answer, 'yes, or very well, or 
something of that sort.' Looking, therefore, at the 
account of the trial for the proofs of guilt, I am not 
capable of perceiving them, so as to know what part 
of the charge was proved ; and I have been in the 
habit of hearing, that, for the purpose of conviction, 
that which is not proved is as if it did not exist. I 
am aware that the most honourable minds are most 
obnoxious to strong suspicion in certain cases : Cap- 
tain O'Grady's evidence proves that he had imbibed 
strong suspicions, but I cannot feel that it goes farther. 
I need not advert to the points which the defence places 
so ably, and indeed I am sure I should only weaken 
them by attempting it ; and can only regret, that unless 
the evidence should be considered by the legal crown 
officer as imperfect, I am incapable of giving any ad- 
vice on the subject." 

In 1821, Admiral Stirling submitted the case to the 
Lords of the Admiralty, in hopes of getting the sen- 



53 

tence reversed ; but without success. In this state- 
ment (which the admiral has since printed), he lias 
entered more into detail ; but it would greatly exceed 
our limits to state all the particulars there brought for- 
ward. He has accounted for the hostility of Commis- 
sioner Wolley by stating, that the principal part of the 
traffic of Jamaica consisted in the illicit commerce with 
the Spanish Main, British manufactures being sent 
thither, and a vast importation of gold being received 
in return ; from whence arose a very important branch 
of the Jamaica trade — its money-market. " The hold- 
ers or consigners of specie may convey remittances to 
Europe by two channels : they may supply the wants 
of government in the West Indies, receiving bills on the 
British Treasury ; or they may ship money directly for 
England, The disadvantage to them from the first 
mode is, that from the influx of specie, and the perfect 
security of this way of remittance, the government 
bills are often at a high premium, and seldom, if ever, 
need be under par. The disadvantage of the second 
mode is, the payment of insurance against the danger 
of sea and capture, and the expense of freight." — " It 
was my constant object to keep up the credit of go- 
vernment bills ; whilst Commissioner Wolley and 
others unhappily took a different view of their respec- 
tive duties, and gave a premium for money when I was 
convinced it was not necessary. I fairly and openly 
gave my opinion on the subject to the commissioner, 
agreeably to the orders we had received to confer mil- 
F 3 



54 

tually with each other on any improper practices sup- 
posed to exist in our -respective departments. I was in 
my turn charged with being actuated by motives of 
personal interest, and throwing impediments in the 
way of his public measures. The merchants very na- 
turally took the part of the commissioner ; and the 
means I had conceived it my duty to adopt, to further 
the objects T have mentioned, were openly canvassed 
and publicly censured." 

The commissioner had also been on the very worst 
of terms with Admiral Rowley, and had, on the most 
trifling occasions, sent home complaints against him. 
The commissioner had also publicly declared, that he 
would be the ruin of Admiral Stirling ; and farther 
evidence of his machinations against the admiral was 
contained in a letter from Captain Carter, detailing a 
conversation with a Mr. Hyslop, whose name the com- 
missioner had mentioned to the Navy-Board, in a trans- 
action which, however, did not answer the purpose of 
calling down censure upon the admiral. 

The principal cause of the admiral's unpopularity in 
Jamaica appears to have been on account of freight. 
Specie being for greater safety always conveyed in the 
king's ships, is subject to a reduction for freight of 2i 
per cent, unless it belongs to his Majesty, who allows 
only one-half per cent, which is shared between the 
admiral and captain of the ship, in the proportions of 
prize-money ; and though, during the period of Ad- 
miral Stirling's command at Jamaica, there was a dif- 
ference of opinion as to whether the admiral had any 



55 

right to share, that question has been since settled by 
an order in council, which confirms the admiral's claim. 
Previous, however, to Admiral Stirling's appoint- 
ment to the Jamaica station, a custom prevailed re- 
specting freight which was open to great objection. 
" The troubles in South America had so much opened 
the trade to that island, that more frequent convoys had 
been found necessary for the protection of the traders to 
the Spanish Main ; and in consequence of the difficulty 
of sending men of war so often, for the purpose of an- 
swering the desired end with a less number of vessels, 
and as a means to make the traders consistent in their 
demands and regular in the times of sailing, the cus- 
tom had originated of insuring a return of freight of 
80,000 dollars, at the rate of 2i per cent, whether 
bullion was shipped or not. In my first conversation 
with Mr. Bogle, my agent, after my arrival, he in- 
formed me of this custom, and strongly urged its ex- 
pediency. 1 disapproved of it in the rnost decided 
terms, and positively declared I would not sanction if. 
This disapprobation I do most solemnly assert I never 
afterwards withdrew, either directly or impliedly. For 
the few first months of my command, the captains who 
returned from the Spanish Main with freight were in 
the habit of paying the flag-proportion to my agents in 
London. The greater part, however, did not do so. 
But it was not until the Jamaica, station was blended 
with the American command, and I became one of five 
junior flag-officers, that any opposition was made to 
the right of the flag to share. This opposition was 



56 

even then far from general, and, to the best of my re- 
collection, there were but four instances. The first 
was during a conversation at my table, when Captain 
SherrifF, of the Barossa, loudly exclaimed against the 
right of admirals to share freight ; and I felt myself 
called upon to reprove the expression of which he 
made use. The two next instances were those of 
Captain John Boss of the Rhodian, and Captain Tho- 
mas Dundas of the Vengeur ; both these officers made 
an unsolicited acknowledgment of my right before 
they sailed, but both afterwards changed their opinion, 
and refused to pay the flag-proportion. As a present 
they both would have given it, but this I indignantly 
refused ; it was only as a freight that I looked upon 
myself as entitled to make the demand, and as such 
alone would I receive it. The last instance was in the 
case of Captain James Walker of the Bedford, who 
fairly expressed his doubts, and proposed that the 
question should be settled by arbitration. I objected 
to such reference : yet, notwithstanding, he did so 
submit it ; and, unknown to me, he appointed my 
agent, Mr. Bogle, as one of his arbiters. The deci- 
sion was in favour of the flag, and Captain Walker ex- 
pressed himself satisfied ; but, like others, he after- 
wards changed his opinion, and not a dollar was paid 
on my account ! 

" Another circumstance which brought a load of 
prejudice and ill-will against me was, the unpopularity 
of my agent. Mr. Bogle was a distant relation of 
mine by marriage, and in his friendship I had the full- 



57 

est confidence. But let me not be misunderstood, 
but clearly mark the distinction 1 make between public 
and private confidence. I never in my life thought 
myself justified in delegating to another any part of 
that public trust with which I was honoured by the 
government. Neither Mr. Bogle nor any other agent 
ever had any authority to act for me in any public ca- 
pacity, even on the most trifling occasions ; and I am 
not aware that he ever did so act, although I under- 
stood he wished it to be believed he might do so ; and 
he certainly very frequently complained to me of my 
not reposing in him that confidence with which some 
commanders in chief were accustomed to treat their 
agents." 

Respecting the circumstance which ultimately form- 
ed the charge on which Admiral Stirling was tried, he 
says, " An application was made to me in January 
1813, by a Jew T merchant named Pallachi, to give him 
a convoy to the Havannah. The man had been ill 
used by one of the captains a short time before, and 
as his feelings seemed hurt by it, I told him that I 
would comply with his wish, if I could do so con- 
sistently with the regulations I had made ; adding, 
that the Sappho was expected shortly, and if he called 
at the Penn, or on board the flag-ship, he would hear 
when she sailed : but wishing to save him trouble, I 
said he would most likely get his information at Mr. 
Bogle's office, where, for the accommodation of the 
merchants, I usually sent notice when a king's ship 
would give convoy. On the arrival of the Sappho, 



58 

Captain O'Grady was directed to take such vessels as 
were bound to the Havannah under his convoy, and 
after seeing them in safety off that port, to proceed 
forthwith to Honduras, to convoy the trade to Eng- 
land, calling in his way again at the Havannah for 
such vessels as might be ready to accompany him, and 
where it was expected he would get a very good freight, 
" Very shortly after the sailing of the Sappho, I 
accidentally heard it reported that Mr. Pallachi had 
paid my agent a sum of money, by way of freight, for 
the convoy he had obtained. I immediately demanded 
an explanation of Mr. Bogle, who assured me there 
was no truth in the report ; that no money had been 
received ; that he knew it was contrary to my orders 
that any should be received, and he would on no ac- 
count commit me in any such transaction. With this 
I was unfortunately satisfied, as at that time I had the 
fullest confidence in his word, and no motive then oc- 
curred to me which could have induced him to betray 
my best interests*. 

* " It has been asked, what could have been Mr. Bogle's 
motive in thus demanding money on my account, if I had 
not directed him. To this I was always ready to answer- 
that it would be difficult for me to supply other people with 
motives for their conduct, to avoid being myself implicated 
in their errors; and that my positive denial of all participa- 
tion in the transaction alluded to was certainly equal, in 
absence of all proof, to Mr. Bogle's assertion that I sanc- 
tioned it. But if I must, to vindicate myself, suggest motives 
that appear to me likely to have influenced him, I will en- 
deavour to do so with a conscientious regard to truth. From 



59 

" A great deal has been said respecting my anxiety 
to make money. However great this anxiety may be 
supposed to have been, it certainly was not evinced in 

my first arrival at Jamaica as commissioner in 1803, it was 
always the great wish of Mr. Bogie's life to be agent to the 
captains. The consequence of Mr. Waterhouse, who then 
acted in that capacity, was the object of his ambition ; and 
he not only repeatedly urged my intercession to get him 
agency, but was always hurt at my refusal. On being ap- 
pointed to the command, I took him out with me in the Are- 
thusa, in return for his kindness to me when I had the yellow 
fever. Some of the captains appointed him their agent on 
his arrival, and I was pressed to ask the others to do so; but 
I invariably declined interfering with their patronage. When 
Captain CTGrady was ordered to the Bahamas, at the com- 
mencement of the American war, Mr. Bogle repeated his 
request; and it became more and more evident that he was 
desirous to ingratiate himself with the captains, and thereby 
get the whole agency into his hands. He knew the general 
desire amongst the captains to get freight ; and told me that 
I should become very unpopular with them, if 1 denied them 
those opportunities of making muney which my predecessors 
had allowed, and which, he has said in one of his letters, 
i he never considered improper, or he would have advised 
me against it.' He was personally interested, moreover, in 
other ways to carry this plan of freight, as it was called ; for 
he was more deeply engaged in traffic with the Spanish Main 
than I was aware of; and every attempt was made at King- 
ston to have it thought he could obtain the grant of a con- 
voy, although he never succeeded in any one instance. Be- 
sides this, Mr. Bogle hated Mr. Pallachi ; they generally 
quarrelled when they met; and when he was arranging, as 
he says, for Captain O'Grady, that the 2000 dollars were to 



60 

my actions. It is well known that I repeatedly refused 
to accede to the earnest solicitations of the merchants 
at Kingston to send over ships to the Spanish Main for 
specie, because I thought it would interfere with the 
defence of the island ; and that so tenacious was I of 
sparing ships to carry specie to England, that the mer- 
chants at Jamaica applied, through their agents in Eng- 
land, to the Lords of the Admiralty, to instruct me to 
send home a frigate whenever 100,000/. sterling was 
ready to be shipped to Britain. / constantly refused 
the freightage of one-half per cent, ivhich is allowed on 
all government money, although it was voluntarily offer- 
ed to me on several occasions; I refused a share of 
freight offered me by Captain Maples of the Pelican, 
because he was acting under Admiralty orders ; I re- 
fused a present of five hundred pounds ■, which the mer- 
chants of Kingston wished me to accept, as a token of 
their good-will, on my leaving the island*; and in 

be paid before the Sappho sailed, and found himself thwarted 
by the Jew, he got into a passion, and most unwarrantably 
swore the convoy should not go if the money was not paid. 
When the thing was done, he was ashamed of himself, as 
appears evident to me from his denying it, and persuading 
me he had not done it. When Admiral Brown arrived, he 
wanted to be his agent, which was refused ; and when he was 
spoken to on some person being employed to collect evidence 
against me, he implicated me, probably to save himself from 
the imputation of having acted so contrary to the best in- 
terests of his employer." — Case, pp. 30, 33. 

* Mr. Ralfe, in his Memoirs of Lord Nelson (Naval Bio- 
graphy, Partviii.), mentions the active part his lordship, as 



1815, I proposed to Sir John Warren that it should 
be referred to the arbitration of two flag-officers to 
determine, whether all the money I had received for 
freight should be returned to the respective captains, or 

captain of the Eoreas, took, at the close of the war in 1783, in 
preventing the Americans from trading with our West India 
Islands. I was at the same station in command of the Uni- 
corn ; but though I agreed with Captain Nelson, that the Act 
of Navigation gave us the power to seize, we ought not to do 
so for our own emolument, if the purpose in view could be 
answered by warning the American vessels from the islands. 
This latter course I preferred to adopt as most consistent 
with the scope of the act, and thereby neglected an oppor- 
tunity of improving my very slender fortune; though some 
of the captains of the squadron, by a different line of con- 
duct, considerably increased theirs. Indeed, during the 
whole time I only libelled one vessel in the Court of Vice- 
Admiralty ; and this was as much ill consequence of the ob- 
stinacy of the master, as of a general desire that the question 
should be tried in a suit at law. The American was con- 
demned ; but in all other instances I found the method of 
warning the vessels off quite sufficient for the purpose. 

Captain O'Grady might himself supply one instance, which 
will shew I did not seize every opportunity of making money. 
When be was down at the Havannah, the Variable schooner, 
under his orders, committed, what I conceived to be, a 
breach of the laws of neutrality, in having seized an Ame- 
rican vessel, and sent her to New Providence. I was ex- 
cessively displeased with what was done on the occasion; 
but being willing to attribute it to a mistake, I took no offi- 
cial notice of it; but, on the contrary, wrote a letter of ex- 
planation, on Captain O'Grady 's behalf, to the Spanish vice- 

G 



62 

not. It was so referred, and Sir C. Pole and Lord 
Exmoutli deciding against its being returned, the 
whole of the money I had received for freight during 
the time I was under Sir John Warren's command was 
paid to his secretary. And if this anxiety was not 
evinced in my actions, neither was it shewn in the 
amount of the money I actually realized at Jamaica. 

roy, Admiral Don J. Apodaca. The American was after- 
wards condemned and sold; but having disapproved of the 
transaction, I refused to share the prize-money. 

I will mention onty one instance more in which I refused 
to avail myself of an opportunity of making money; and 
that was, when, on my return from the Cape of Good Hope, 
I declined to apply for the present of 5001. which the India 
Company always made to the senior officer who convoyed 
home a fleet of their ships. 

I trust those who may read these pages with a view to the 
understanding of my professional character, will give me 
credit, when I declare how extremely painful it is for me 
thus to intrude myself upon public attention, or to dwell 
upon those instances in which I have solely been guided 
by a sense of duty. I do not wish, by so doing, to extol my 
own character, or to assert that I am superior to all con- 
sideration of the value of wealth, or insensible to the conse- 
quence it brings with it. But 1 feel so much the injustice that 
has been done me in the reports respecting my anxiety to 
enrich myself on all occasions, to which reports I must attri- 
bute the idea that I could be guilty of the paltry act for 
which I was tried, that I surely am justified in taking this 
opportunity to mention examples, which evince that money 
was never my leading object; but that, on the contrary, 
I shewed a more than common inattention to the opportuni- 
ties of amassing it that fell in my way. 



63 

In 1815 I shewed my accounts to Sir Joseph Yorke, 
who expressed himself astonished at the difference be*» 
tween them and the reports he had heard. All the 
money I received whilst I held the chief command on 
the station was about four thousand pounds ; and 
what I had afterwards, besides pay and prize-money, 
was 980/. being the tenth part of 9802/. paid to Sir 
John Warren's secretary. 

" To this one act relating to the Sappho, Mr. Bogle 
wishes it to be believed I gave my sanction ; but he 
confesses it astonished him that I did so. In every 
other transaction, he expresses himself surprised at 
my disinterestedness and want of eagerness to make 
money. Is it, then, to be credited that I should only 
once in my command liave lost sight of this restraining 
principle, powerful as it must have been, which guided 
me, and astonished him ? and for what consideration ? 
for 150LI and even this would have been further re- 
duced to somewhere about sixteen pounds ! after pay- 
ing the proportions to the commander-in-chief and the 
flag-officers under my command. Is it credible ? Men 
do not break through settled habits, or forsake the 
usual tenour of their, lives, for paltry motives. No 
weakness could have induced me to consent to this, 
and the call of interest was not strong enoug'ti to lead 
the most ignoble-minded man to the hazard of his re- 
putation. 

" There is one consolation which my feelings have 
experienced since the unfortunate period of my court- 
G 2 



64 

martial, which is, the testimony that I understand is 
now borne to the purity of my conduct by the people 
of Jamaica. I have had occasion to allude to the un- 
popularity of my command, and to the great prejudice 
that existed in the island against me. That prejudice 
seems now to have subsided, and men are at least dis- 
posed to acknowledge I have been misunderstood and 
misrepresented. This welcome intelligence was con- 
veyed to me in a letter from Admiral Douglas, who 
succeeded to Admiral Brown in the command at Ja- 
maica ; and with an extract from his letter I will close 
my statement, corroborating, as it does, so many of the 
assertions I have advanced in the preceding pages : 

" ' From the information I have received in this 
country, I have no hesitation in saying, that I believe 
the particular transaction upon which you were princi- 
pally, if not wholly, condemned, was entirely the act 
of your agent, and done without your knowledge. 
People here, generally speaking, seem to acquit you of 
all unfair practices ; but are by no means disposed to 
let your agent off so easily ; and whilst they belieye 
that you are innocent of having sanctioned any irregu- 
lar proceeding, they cannot help regretting your having 
placed that unlimited confidence (which it appears to 
them ycfix did) in the hands of persons who did not at 
all times act in a manner becoming people intrusted 
with such power. I have thus given you the opinion 
of those who appear to me most capable of giving it 
without prejudice.' " 

Admiral Stirling concludes with the following de- 



65 

claration: " I have nothing to add, except that I am 
ready to verify by oath the truth of every word 1 have 
asserted ; and to repeat the solemn declaration that I 
have at other times made ', that on no occasion did I 

EVER, FOR ONE INSTANT, SWERVE EROM THE STRICTEST 
LINE OF MY DUTY, OR THE SEVEREST DICTATES OF 
HONOUR.'' 

From the above summary of Admiral Stirling's life, 
it will be seen that he is what may be termed an unfor- 
tunate officer, not exactly in that department of his 
profession which calls for the display of certain quali- 
ties and naval talents — bravery, coolness, intrepidity, 
and skill — nor in opportunities to display them in en- 
counters with the enemies of his country — but in the 
less brilliant and more thankless duties which pertain 
to the civil department of the naval service. Every 
profession has its dangers, troubles, and difficulties ; 
every member of society is exposed, as he is more or 
less elevated, to the attacks of open enmity or insidious 
friendship. By a strange anomaly in human nature, 
the best meaning are frequently the most obnoxious to 
unworthy imputations ; and those who, in the exercise 
of their duty, have been most anxious to acquit them- 
selves with honour and reputation, and who have 
passed their lives in zealous endeavours to defend the 
interests of their country, are often not only disap- 
pointed in their object, but find themselves the victims 
of calumny and neglect. It is difficult to say why this 
should be, but experience confirms the melancholy 
G 3 



66 

truth. Perhaps it arises from a too great confidence 
in their own integrity, and a reluctance to impute had 
motives to others, by which they unconsciously tolerate 
or encourage the misconduct of persons under them ; 
or perhaps they are too constant in looking only at the 
high object of their ambition, and disregard the diffi- 
culties, the irregularities, and minor details of the road 
that intervenes, thereby giving free course to the ma- 
chinations of the artful, the designing, and the un- 
worthy. If the confidence of such men is sometimes 
unworthily bestowed, it is less to be wondered at, and 
more to be regretted : because, in the first place, it 
proceeds from the best feelings of our nature ; and, se- 
condly, its consequences to the individual are, gene- 
rally, complete and irretrievable ruin. This is some- 
what the case with Admiral Stirling, who, though he 
possesses that degree of courage which has enabled 
him to combat danger with serenity and perseverance, 
and that portion of professional skill which has borne 
him triumphantly through the active part of his duty, 
appears to possess a too confiding disposition, which, 
whilst it may account for a great deal of the unpopula- 
rity under which his character has suffered, led him at 
last into an inextricable difficulty. 

Admiral Stirling was always a strict advocate for 
economy in the public expenditure : he had witnessed 
the successful efforts made with this view by Lord St. 
Vincent, at a time when it was the opinion of many 
that the salvation of the country was only to be ef- 
fected by strictly following that course ; and it was 



67 

always his anxious wish to pursue that salutary system. 
On this principle he acted when commissioner at Ja- 
maica and during his command in the Rio de la Plata, 
at the Cape of Good Hope, and in the West Indies. 
He saw the abuses which prevailed in the expenditure 
of the public money, and he laboured with unwearied 
perseverance to correct them. In many instances he 
was successful, and received the approbation of those 
by whom he was employed ; but the success was pur- 
chased by the sacrifice of his popularity. To this we 
may reasonably trace the opposition he encountered, 
the enmities with which he w T as assailed, and the slan- 
ders which have been cast upon his character. It was 
not to be believed that a man was economizing for the 
public good alone, but, w T ith the narrowness of conscious 
selfishness and their own little minds, some persons 
could only attribute the wholesome frugality with which 
the admiral regulated the naval expenditure under his 
controul to motives of personal avarice. Hence the 
reports, which have been spread on all sides, of his 
anxiety to obtain money, and of the wealth which he 
has amassed in his successive commands. But did we 
not know from the best authority that such reports are 
untrue, reason and common sense would prevent our 
giving ear to them. In his defence, Admiral Stirling 
has pointed out his disinterested conduct towards se- 
veral captains in the navy, his constant refusal of one- 
half per cent, on all government money, although vo- 
luntarily offered to him on several occasions, and also 
his declining to receive five hundred pounds which the 



68 

merchants of Kingston wished him to accept as a token 
of their regard. Can we then believe that any man 
possesses such opposite traits in his character, as to 
refuse that which he might honourably take, to decline 
a mode whicli he might with propriety adopt, and then 
resort to unworthy and contemptible means to accom- 
plish a similar end ? It is a contradiction in nature, 
and is absolutely incredible, unless accompanied with 
the most irrefragable proof. So much for the reports 
which have been spread to the admiral's discredit. With 
regard to tlie charge on which he was tried, we can 
add but little -to the clear and explicit statement which 
he has given. There is, however, one circumstance 
which he passed by without notice. It is stated by 
Commissioner Wolley, that his Majesty* s naval service 
on the Jamaica station was publicly and disrespectfully 
spoken of (unconnected with the Sappho). But not 
the smallest attempt was made to prove this assertion 
at the trial ; not a question was put to the only wit- 
ness brought forward relative to its truth ; and it must 
therefore be treated as a chimera, as undeserving the 
least consideration. With respect to that part which 
is of a more tangible nature — the being privy to ex- 
torting money from Mr. Pallachi, and sharing in the 
profits — we will venture to say, that if the same evi- 
dence had been offered in a court of law, it would not 
have been listened to ; that it was totally inadequate 
to support so serious a charge. In this view of the case, 
we are happy in being joined by officers who do not 
coincide in our opinion relative to the whole of Ad- 



69 

miral Stirling's conduct. It is, however, on this ac- 
count the more valuable, shewing, as it does, that even 
those who are somewhat inimical to him, think that he 
has been hardly dealt with, and has been condemned 
without sufficient proof. It is said that justice should 
never be administered by surprise ; that the party ac- 
cused should have every opportunity of preparing for 
his defence ; that they should not only not suffer 
wrong, but that the proceedings should be free from 
suspicion, in order that the world may be satisfied of 
justice being done ; that the end of justice is not to 
condemn, but to expose the truth. Reason and huma- 
nity, therefore, join in pointing out the necessity of 
affording to the accused every advantage that can be 
fairly given to him for his justification. The most ri- 
gorous cannot refuse him permission to conduct his 
cause upon equal terms with his prosecutors ; and in 
order to do this, he should have early information of 
the particulars of the charges brought against him, that 
he might collect his witnesses and arrange his proceed- 
ings. It is also an axiom in law, that, to prevent un- 
just accusations, the accused should be confronted with 
the accusers and the witnesses, and that the latter shall 
be subject to the punishment due to false testimony. 
But were these maxims and principles adhered to in 
the case of Admiral Stirling ? Not in the least. He 
was recalled from his command without any intimation 
of such a step being about to be taken, and he sailed 
from Jamaica in lu'er ignorance of the accusation made 
against him. Not even Admiral Brown, who super- 



70 

seded him, gave him the least information on the sub- 
ject ; but, on the contrary, after Admiral Stirling had 
left the station, a dispatch arrived from Sir John War- 
ren, inclosing Commissioner Wolley's statement of the 
transaction, and a private letter of Sir John's, calling 
upon Admiral Stirling to enter into an explanation of 
the subject. But instead of forwarding both these 
papers after Admiral Stirling, Admiral Brown only 
sent the private letter of Sir John ; so that he was re- 
quired to enter into an explanation on a subject, the 
particulars of which he had no means of ascertaining ! 
Had Admiral Stirling been (as he ought to have been) 
informed of the nature of the charge brought against 
him, he would have had opportunities of collecting ma- 
terials for his defence, from which he was afterwards 
utterly precluded ; and he was obliged to go to trial, 
to meet an accusation which had been coolly and, we 
may say, secretly got up against him, in a hurried and 
unprepared state. No accuser appeared at the trial, 
and the only witness that was brought forward was im- 
plicated, deeply implicated, in the transaction, who had 
received two- thirds of the bribe, k^pt it for six months, 
and then, finding it had become public, made a virtue 
of necessity, and returned it to the proper owner ! This 
evidence was bolstered up by some voluntary affidavits ; 
but as the assertions they contained would not, if 
proved to be false, subject the deponents to any punish- 
ment, they can never be considered as legal evidence. 
But even these made no attempt trjSmplicate Admiral 
Stirling in the transaction, and only went to prove that 



71 

the money had been paid to his agent. Is this suffi- 
cient evidence to destroy the honour and reputation of 
an English admiral ? Is it sufficient to destroy the 
character of any man ? Is it meting out that degree 
of justice that we wish to have measured to ourselves ? 
Looking at the names of the officers composing the 
court, we confess we are surprised at the verdict ; we 
perceive that there were individuals present whose 
names stand high as possessing every manly virtue ; 
we are constrained to believe that their verdict was 
founded on their anxiety to keep untarnished the re- 
putation of the British navy, and that they considered 
the characters of officers should not only be free from 
blame, but also free from suspicion. It is, however, 
carrying the doctrine to the extreme, and might tend 
to involve themselves in one common state of degra- 
dation and ruin. There have certainly been many 
strange and anomalous trials by courts- martial ; ac- 
quittals taking place where guilt was apparent, as in 
the case of Admiral Duckworth, and condemnations 
where guilt was at least doubtful, as in the case of Ad- 
miral Byng ; and to these anomalies we must add that 
of Admiral Stirling*. . 

* This allusion to anomalous trials will, I hope, justify 
me in mentioning three instances, in which I was near losing 
my life, on grounds fully as slight as those on which my 
court-martial pronounced sentence against me. At Phila- 
delphia, in 1781, when I was taken in the Savage, I was 
tried by the council of war on a charge, made by a renegade, 
of having flogged two American sailors to death at Ndw- 
York. Most fortunately for me I never commanded either 



72 

The admiral married Charlotte, second daughter of 
the late Andrew Grote, Esq. of Blackheath ; and by 
that lady, who died in March 1825, he has four sons 
and a daughter. 

of the ships in which it was said the transactions took place ; 
and the witnesses having got drunk before the trial was over, 
they so contradicted themselves, that I was acquitted. I 
was afterwards told, on good authority, that had it not been 
for the contradiction, I should have been sentenced to the 
same kind of death I was accused of having inflicted on 
others. In 1786, when I commanded the Unicorn, I was 
near being tried at the Old Bailey as an accessary in a 
murder. It had been represented by Mr. Parry, the govern- 
or of Barbadoes, that I had secreted the boatswain of the 
Boreas, who had shot a man on the impress service ; when, 
in reality, I had expressed myself against impressment with- 
out authority, and so positively refused to receive the cul- 
prit on board my ship, that a quarrel with my old friend 
Lord Nelson, who then commanded the Boreas, and other 
captains concerned, was the consequence. When I was a 
prisoner in France in 1798, a fellow-passenger in the dili- 
gence died in the next room to the one in which I slept at 
Lisle ; and a late act of the National Assembly rendered me, 
as the last person seen in his company, liable to account for 
his death. The municipal officer, however, who took the 
proces verbal, happened to be a humane and intelligent man, 
and saved me from the awkward dilemma in which a more 
zealous minister of the laws might have placed me. 

THE END. 



Printed by L. Harrison, 373, Strand. 









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